Jay-Z played a 45 minute set at the iHeartRadio fest at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on Friday night. Alicia Keys made headlines when she performed a new song for the audience but Jay-Z also made a huge splash by inviting the lady for ‘Empire State Of Mind during his own set. Below is a report by Billboard who also have a highlights clip which can be watched after the jump.
Jay-Z closed the evening with a 45-minute set which featured a cameo from Alicia Keys for “Empire State of Mind,” while every other act turned in 20 or so minutes of music at “the largest live concert event in radio history,” a bit of incalculable hyperbole from the promoter Clear Channel. Breaks between acts were always about five minutes and filled with either videos of performers talking about radio’s effect on their careers or else advertisements from State Farm (really?), Budweiser (that made sense) and others. Nearly every seat in the 12,000-capacity was arena was filled within an hour of the 7:30 p.m. start time; the crowd had thinned by about a third as Jay-Z was wrapping up.