J Cole Concert Review 4 Your Eyez Only

J. Cole is one of hip-hop's greatest storytellers.

And it goes beyond the brilliance of his rapping to the way he engages the audience, sharing the stories behind the songs in a series of monologues that didn't tiresome things down at Talking Stick Resort Arena Th dark so much every bit add together to the momentum, advancing the plot of the concert while drawing the audience deeper into J. Cole's earth.

He's also an electrifying alive performer, and then that helps.

The stage was prepare up in the middle of the venue, like a battle band, with all the floor seats pointed in.

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This meant audience members seated where the front end rows would have been had their backs turned to the alive musicians on what would have been the "master stage," the better to focus on Cole, who performed all but one song alone in an orangish prison jumpsuit.

Cole opened the show with the four songs that open the anthology that gives the tour its name, "iv Your Eyez Only."

Information technology was the fourth of those songs, "Ville Mentality," that provided the framework for the night's beginning monologue – on the pros and cons of the live-for-the-moment mentality on which the song is based.

In a way, it's an unfortunate mentality to have, he said, considering "you're not giving yourself the right to dream, the correct to plan for the futurity." On the other paw, when you lot live for the moment, you truly receive and capeesh everything that'southward coming your style. "And then Phoenix," he said, "I need everybody in hither tonight to live for this moment right at present.... When you leave here tonight I desire yous to have no f--king voice left."

Then, he led them in a rousing singalong of the song's soulful chorus.

Afterward bringing Ari Lennox, the beginning of the concert'south iii opening acts, back out to bring together him on a fifth vocal from "4 Your Eyez But," "Change," he talked about his terminal tour, in support of his previous album, "2014 Woods Hills Bulldoze."

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"I came out," he recalled, "And nosotros performed the new album the whole style through. So if yous can't tell already, Phoenix, we gonna do the same f--male monarch thing this night."

Before returning to the album, though, he blew the dust of his get-go single, "Lights Delight," choosing a adult female from the audition to rap forth on the video monitors on either side of the arena. And then, he followed through with the early hits "Nobody'due south Perfect" and "Can't Go Enough," both of which inspired massive singalongs.

A fiery version of "Neighbors" brought the activeness back to Cole's new album while setting the stage for Thursday'south most compelling monologue – about the time his white suburban neighbors brought a SWAT team crashing through his door while he was working on new music, "doing some of the most positive stuff you lot could ever do in this house."

Why? It seems his neighbors had called to complain of "a lot of activeness, a lot of BLACK activity, blacktivity."

With "Foldin Clothes," he celebrated the unproblematic things in life, a concept he acknowledged may not resonate as much with the 16-year-olds in attendance as it will when they get older.

Then, he introduced "She'due south Mine," a song about the joys of parenthood, with "I pray everybody in this room gets to experience what this is about anytime."

He reached back to "Forest Hills Drive" for the next batch of songs, slipping "Power Drive" into the mix before bringing that part of the show to a crowd-pleasing climax with "No Role Modelz."

Then, he told the fans he planned to terminate the testify with the almost nine-minute title rails that closes his new album – considering it'due south important – and he wouldn't be returning afterwards that to do more hits.

"Therefore," he said, "if you don't desire to hear somebody running through some real southward--t for eight minutes and really give you a story.... this is your time to beat the traffic."

I'1000 certain someone left. But the arena was withal packed with screaming fans committed to leaving with no vocalisation left, every bit requested, when he finished that epic operation.

Setlist

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Immortal

Deja Vu

Ville Mentality

Modify (with Ari Lennox)

Lights Please

Nobody'south Perfect

Tin can't Become Enough

Forbidden Fruit

Neighbors

Foldin Clothes

She's Mine

Love Yourz

Wet Dreamz

A Tale of 2 Citiez

K.O.M.D.

Power Trip

No Office Modelz

4 Your Eyez Simply

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Source: https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/07/07/j-cole-concert-review-phoenix-4-your-eyez-only/457577001/