It is a testament to the hyperbolic levels of grandeur and self-aggrandisement audiences now expect of Jay-Z and Kanye West that their concert on Saturday night – which was held in the soul-sappingly monolithic Izod Centre in New Jersey, and featured fireballs, giant American flags and suggestions that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were but precursors to the two rappers – felt shockingly low-key and endearingly intimate.
This partly came from their wise decision to not invite any of their friends, or even a particular wife, to their party. Despite West's tendency to rope in everyone on his iPod to feature on his albums, including his and Jay-Z's recent collaborative album, Watch the Throne, it was only the two men on stage for the two hours. To watch West gleefully hamming it up as the racist cop in 99 Problems, and Jay-Z acting as support singer on Gold Digger, with both men finding renewed enthusiasm in even their best-known material merely by singing it with the other, made you wonder why they bother working with anyone else.
The concert opened with the two standing on plinths on opposite sides of the stadium as they performed the dark and booming track H.A.M., suggesting this was going to be a gladiatorial event, two egos battling it out. But far from being Maximus and Commodus, the two were more like Bert and Ernie, affectionately clowning around together. West, in particular, was too busy grinning at his buddy to make any long speeches about how he's been treated "like Hitler", as he has in the past. True, he did riff a love ballad that featured the Shakespearean couplet, "If I told you I like your shoes tonight/ Don't listen to me because I'm an asshole"; and he did opt for leather leggings, a leather skirt and a giant T-shirt featuring his own face; and, yes, he did try to co-opt a reluctant Jay-Z into a bit of panto-like role-playing. But compared to his previous antics, this was about as mundane as de-icing the freezer.
Each was generous with performing their greatest hits – Big Pimpin', Jesus Walks, etc – but looked like they were having the most fun when singing tracks off their joint album.
When they performed Niggas in Paris three times in a row by way of an encore – each rendition funnier and more energetic than the last – it was clear that these are two men at the top of their game, having the time of their lives.
