Jay-Z takes Glastonbury show to O2 Wireless

United Kingdom | | 04 July 2008

Jay-Z headlined the opening day of the O2 Wireless Festival in London last night (Thursday), playing a near repeat of his historic Glastonbury show.

The rapper once again sampled the likes of Amy Winehouse, Estelle, Rihanna, AC/DC, Michael Jackson and The Prodigy, as he thrilled the crowd with a career-spanning set.

There was one collaboration, with fellow rapper Memphis Bleek, but nobody else joined Jay-Z as he belted out the likes of ’99 Problems’ and ‘Hard Knock Life’.

He got political for a while, encouraging the crowd to boo after a skit about George Bush, whose photograph on the big screen morphed into Barack Obama, to the audience’s delight.

As his 80 minute set drew to a close, he showed his appreciation for the crowd before playing a speeded up version of ‘Heart of the City’ from classic Jay-Z album ‘The Blueprint’, then returned to end with his genre-defying take on ‘Encore/Numb’.

“I had a fantastic time down there,” he said of last weekend's Glastonbury Festival . But cracking the same joke as he did at Worthy Farm, in reference to the controversy which surrounded his inclusion, he asked: “London – they say you don't want me in London...where's the love?”

Earlier, Mark Ronson had brought his celebrity friends along to play the hits from his album ‘Version’, with a pink-haired Lily Allen bringing an air of unintentional comedy to the night.

The ‘Smile’ singer strolled onstage then came in at the wrong time in her own song ‘Littlest Things’, before laughing as she forgot the words to the Kaiser Chiefs’ ‘Oh My God’.

The highlight was Tim Burgess’ appearance for ‘Only One I Know’, while Charlie from The Rumble Strips rendition of ‘Rehab’ was also a crowd-pleaser.

Ronson looked as self-righteous as ever as he orchestrated the set, bringing Wiley, Candi Payne and Daniel Merriweather into the fray as he built the crowd up ready for Jay-Z.

Today’s line-up is headlined by Morrissey, with the likes of The National, Dirty Pretty Things and Beck all scheduled to perform.

Tickets for the Hyde Park event are still available HERE, and check back to Virtual Festivals for all the latest news and reviews from the festival.