When The Heart of the City Tour hit MSG on Friday night, Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige fans came to The Garden very excited for the big show ... and they were not afraid to show it.
Meet the very talented audience that stepped out to enjoy a night of music ... and share the songs in their hearts:
Were you there? Tell us all about it! Missed the show? You have two more chances to rock with Jay and Mary J. — tonight and tomorrow at The Garden.
Every time The Garden announces an addition to the concert lineup I gear up. How so, you may ask? I gear up with my iTunes. Let me put it this way — if a civilization from a galaxy far, far away were ever to find my iTunes library many years from now, they would not be able to tell my age, gender, cultural background or whether I was even a member of the human race.
In honor of my iTuning conquest, and a countdown to the Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige shows coming up in May, here is what I've decided are a MUST FIVE on the list. (Sorry, Mary J. but I'm all about the J — the Jay-Z).
Like every other morning, The Monitor begins each Monday with a look at the news. But the week usually starts off a little bit sweeter thanks to Mixtape Monday, an often enlightening and always entertaining look at what's happening in hip-hop.
In the latest installment (mixed in with a peek at the new Biggie doll and some insight on what Quincy Jones listens to) is a story about Bishop Don Magic Juan's campaign to help Britney Spears. He's taking prayers over at HelpBishopSaveBritney.com.
And we quote: "Will Britney ignore Bishop, make him her babysitter, or marry him in
vegas? We think Bishop will do what Dr. Phil couldn't, LAY HIS PIMP
HAND ON KFED, THE PAPS AND COPS because PLAYA HATIN AND FAKIN MOVES IS
BREAKING THE FAMOUS PLAYERS CODE OF ETHICS, and if the CHAIRMAN OF THE
BOARD OF PLAYERS EVERYWHERE DOESNT INFORCE THE LAW...WHO WILL?"
How did we miss this until now? And if this is a sign of the week to come, we're all in.
Too busy to keep up with entertainment news over the holiday weekend, but don't want to feel completely out of touch? Here's a list of the five biggest — most interesting, disturbing, monumental, etc. — entertainment stories that broke over the last few days, just to catch you up.
Just like the movie, American Gangster the album opened at #1. The Jay-Z disc, inspired by the film, sold 425,000 copies its first week out. This marks Jay's 10th time on top of the albums chart. (Billboard)
The Broadway stagehands strike enters its sixth day today, but the union and producers have planned to resume negotiations this weekend. (Playbill)
Miss "The Daily Show"? Striking writers have pitched in with an alternative version, shot from the picket lines and featuring "Daily Show" correspondent John Oliver as a villanous, old-timey CEO. (Defamer)
Darryl McDaniels — better known as DMC — performs at Joe's Pub tonight.
The Plumm, the Chelsea club owned by a whole mess of celebrities (including Chris Noth, Samantha Ronson and Joey McIntyre) is celebrating its first anniversary at a free event tonight. (FreeNYC)
Crime pays this morning, with "American Gangster" winning a box-office battle and inspiring a well-reviewed Jay-Z disc as well as a Jim Jones mixtape. Can Sylvester Stallone clean this city up?
"American Gangster" triumphed over "Bee Movie" at
the box office this weekend, with the Denzel Washington-starring story of a New York drug lord
pulling in an estimated $46.3 million over three days, the highest opening for a crime drama in
history. (Reuters)
Pencils down: After 11th-hour negotiations failed, the Writers Guild of America has gone on strike. Late-night talk shows —
including New York's own "Late Show With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "The
Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" — will be the most immediately impacted, and will likely run
repeats until the dispute is resolved. (Variety)
Jay-Z's American Gangster is out tomorrow (and the reviews are in) but if you can't wait, you can cop Jim Jones' Harlem's American Gangsta mixtape now. Jones separates his effort from Jay-Z's, explaining that his disc depicts "the Harlem side of Harlem. That side" — Jay-Z's Gangster — is the Brooklyn side of Harlem." (MTV News)
If you enjoy the next 50 Cent album, you have Europe to thank. The rapper, who said he'd retire if Kanye West beat his sales, isn't hanging up the mic — though West beat him out in the U.S. ""[My album] was No. 1 internationally the week it came out. ... It was the No. 1 European album!" (NY Daily News)
Sylvester Stallone is in talks to direct and star in a remake of "Death Wish," the 1974 Charles Bronson NYC vigilante classic. (Variety)
Hot 97 is hosting a private album release party for Chris Brown tonight at an undisclosed location. If you want in, you have to register on the radio station's web site, RSVP for the event and hope you get lucky.
John Travolta is in negotiations to go head-to-head with Denzel Washington in the remake of the NYC subway thriller "The Taking of Pelham 123." Travolta would play the lead hijacker in the film. (Variety)
Jay-Z premiered his upcoming albumAmerican Gangster with a nine-song performance at Brooklyn's Steiner Studios. The concert will air as part of VH1's "Storyteller" series on November 8. (NY Post)
Director Ed Burns is skipping the theater with his latest New York-set film, "Purple Violets." The movie will premiere exclusively on iTunes, beginning November 20. (Variety)
Queens boys Bayside hold court at the Nokia Theater Times Square tonight, with support acts The Sleeping, June, A Day to Remember and Driver Side Impact.
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are going back in time — and are returning to Massachusetts (unless they settle on Connecticut or Nova Scotia) — for "Shutter Island," a big-screen adaptation of Dennis Lehane's 1954-set novel. (Variety)
Label boss L.A. Reid is standing behind Nas' decision to name his next LP after a racial epithet, but fellow Queens rapper 50 Cent isn't sold: "Nas sucks. It's nonsense, man. That's a stupid name. It doesn't make sense. Why would you title it that?" (MTV News)
We could try to ease you into Monday, but isn't it better to jump right into the deep end? How's this for a start: a movie based on an album based on a movie. And we're off!
If you missed Kiki & Herb's big death act at Carnegie Hall in 2004 (which they followed with a bunch of smaller scale concerts and a month-long run on Broadway), you've got another chance to see them live. "Kiki & Herb: The Second Coming - A Christmas Concert" will take over Carnegie Hall on December 12. (Variety)
MTV broadcast the Broadway production of "Legally Blonde" this weekend, and Playbill readers believe that bringing the stage to the small screen will only help sales, according to a poll. (Playbill)
A Midwest singer strengthens his NYC ties, a New York icon heads up north one
more time and two Queens rappers clash over a name.
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