Check out Nigel D.’s recap of his trip to the Barclays Center for the opening night starring Jay-Z.
Video: Jay-Z Opens Up Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (Freestyles & Speaks On Opening)
Video: Jay-Z Performs “Where I’m From” “Clique” “3 Kings” & Brings Out Big Daddy Kane
I was actually going to pass on going to the concert since I have seen Jay-Z perform about 13 times and I was planning on going to the BET Hip Hop Awards. But I started to think about how big a deal it is for it to be the opening night, I decided I couldn’t miss it. I had to capture the moment for all my RealTalkNY readers! I ended up buying a ticket hours before the show.
The best way to head to the Barclays Center would be public transportation. Various trains and the LIRR stop at, “Atlantic Av-Barclays Center.”
Being a Brooklyn native and being around the Atlantic Ave area for years, it is crazy to see this new arena pop up. I’ve seen construction going on for years but seeing the final product is surreal.
The screen is pretty impressive and bright, like something you would see in Times Square. It ran promos for the Brooklyn Nets and commercials for businesses.
The police presence was very strong, before you even leave the train station you see dogs and cops with rifles out. I didn’t see any incidents take place the entire night, hopefully things stay this way.
Looks like Jay-Z still has Rocawear on his mind and has a store on the side of the arena.
The designers of the Barclays Center decided to go with a rusty look as you can see above.
Back view of the Barclays Center.
I took this picture fifteen minutes before doors to the arena were opened. The place was packed with people of all ages and races. From Black and Caucasian teens to older couples, everyone wanted to be apart of history. There definitely was excitement in the air to see Jay-Z christen the Barclays Center.
If you come out from the train entrance in front of the Barclays center you get this view while going up the escalator.
So I got there early to check the place out before the show. It had what you would expect, a variety of overpriced food and a nice layout. So I made my way to my seat on the floor which was section 8 row 7. I make the long trip down the steps to the floor and then there is an issue. Section 8 only has 6 rows and after that the VIP section starts. In my head I thought to myself, “Shit just got real.” My first thought was I bought a fake ticket and I was screwed. So the ushers were all confused and then I’m told to go to the box office for another ticket.
So I make the long trip to the box office and they tell me to exit the building and go to the front entrance to go the main box office. At this point I want to just stay in the building and find an empty seat. I could potentially go from sitting on the floor of the show to not even seeing it! But I decide to exit and go to the main entrance. The whole time I’m thinking I just f***ed up. So after about 25 minutes I get to near the front of the box office. It seems like a lot of people had issues with seats. So I pass the teller my ticket and pray she doesn’t say it is fake. She looks at it a few times and gets me a ticket off a table behind her. I breathe a sigh of relief and return to the floor.
By the time I get back the arena is packed and waiting for the lights to go out.
After a half an hour wait, the lights go out and video showing the history of Brooklyn is played for over 2 minutes. Jay-Z then appears debuting the Brooklyn Nets’ jersey and performing, “Where I’m From.”
Jay-Z through out the night spoke on how big a deal the show was for him. He said a few times, “Nothing feels like tonight,” and compared the show to his performances at the Grammys, Coachella and Glastonbury. Jay-Z made it clear, “Everyone is from Brooklyn tonight.” He also spit these lines:
This is Rich Porter, part two.
You can stunt like that when you’re rich before your debut.
Money and the murder, rapper or the trapper, Either way I’m gonna serve ya.
Shooters on my team… No really, I got shooters on my team,
Juan or Deron, How you niggas want it, pick an arm.
They call me Lucky Lefty… Ball so hard I don’t respect the fuckin’ referees.
About 6 rows behind me to the right was the VIP section I talked about earlier. People in attendance included Beyonce, Pharrell, J, Cole, The Dream and more. Beyonce was on her feet hype for every song.
Roc Nation’s J. Cole was enjoying the show clearly.
A Look at the VIP section, you can see, The Dream, Pharrell, Beyonce and her mother. Picture was blurry because I had to sneak a pic. Security was there to make sure the cameras were facing the stage and not the celebs in VIP.
A totally unexpected move was Jay-Z bringing out Big Daddy Kane. Who not only did a coule of songs, but also had a dance routine which included a split.
Some how he managed to get up from the split and leave the stage with out assistance.
“I Jack, I Rob, I Sin, aww man I’m Jackie Robinson.” Hov saw someone in the crowd with the jersey and asked to borrow it. He wanted to show the audience how far Brooklyn has come. Jay-Z stated, “Brooklyn had their heart broken,” referring to the Brooklyn Dodgers moving out the city. He followed that saying, “We cried for so many years, look how far we’ve come.”
Jay-Z performed, “Forever Young,” to close off the historic night. Before that he made a motivational speech below.
I’m a tell you some real sh!t, tell you real things. I believe every single person in the world is born with genius level talent, you just got to find out what it is that you are a genius at. I don’t believe that god would take one person and say, “You,” you’re special. I believe every single person in this building is special, everyone has genius level talent. Earl Manigault was an amazing basketball player, he could have been better than Michael Jordan. But he was selling drugs and got on drugs and then he never made it to the NBA, but that was his genius level talent. Once you find out what it is, that’s not the end of it, you find out your genius level talent and you apply yourself in such a way that you do amazing sh!t. I promise you I’m living testament to that. I ain’t no muthaf***in different than anybody here tonight and I’m standing on this stage as living proof, you apply yourself to what it is you’re a genius at you and you can do anything in the world.
– Jay-Z
The aftermath on Atlantic Ave. after a historic night, goodnight Brooklyn.
