Jay-Z plays predominately indie festival

I was fortunate enough to experience Jay-Z live last year at the Hollywood Bowl. However, without a loyal fan base paying exclusively to see Shawn Carter, I was wondering if his appearance at Coachella as the first hiphop headliner in the festival's 11-year history would be warmly received. A large group of people who frequent the Empire Polo Fields at this time of year (those that Brent Tuttle had warned me about in a previous issue of The Vista and the same pretentious posse that chastised Jay-Z's appearance at the Glastonbury show) provided interesting ingredients for this experiment.  
               
In my journey over to Jay-Z's set I had to dodge hippies stepping barefoot in horse manure and half-naked kids with their eyes in the back of their head, but I finally arrived to his DJ warming the crowd up with some Drake, Paul McCartney and the James Bond theme. 
                Then the man himself appeared from under the stage wearing what has become his uniform: "all black everything." From jacket to shades it looked like he stepped right out of the "Empire State of Mind" music video onto the main stage at Coachella. 
               
Jay-Z then gave the eclectic crowd a bit of everything. His long-time followers were satisfied with hits from the early "Blue Print" era with "Hard Knock Life" and "Big Pimpin'" to heavy hitters off of "The Black Album" as he had the whole crowd singing his "Public Service Announcement" and "99 problems." And yes, there was even a Memphis Bleek appearance.
               
There was a certain sense of excitement in the dry desert air and a sense of appreciation when Jay-Z's cover of Oasis's "Wonderwall" hit the speakers. He showed Oasis's lead man and others who criticized his appearance at the predominantly rock filled Glastonbury show last summer that Brooklyn's finest has an appeal to more than hiphop heads. Jay-Z  solidified himself as a household name that appeals to a universal mass and demonstrated to the melting pot mob that he appreciates an eclectic taste of music after he asked Coachellians to make some noise for Passion Pit, Yeasayer and Grizzly Bear.
               
But the show wouldn't be over without a surprise. With rumors circulating earlier in the week that Jay-Z would bring out Dr. Dre to bless the crowd with some new tracks off of  Dre's  highly anticipated "Detox" album, I was eager to see the West Coast legend and King of New York share the stage in what was already a surreal night. Instead he brought out Beyonce to help him perform "Forever Young." As fireworks capped of his show and Jay-Z faded to black, my journey in Indio, Calif. continued.