Photo by: IAMDONP.com

The Pepsi Center was alive and kicking on March 22, the night when legendary rapper Jay-Z took to the stage. Playing to a sold-out crowd that was throwing diamond hand signals in the air, Jay-Z ran through a mix of both old and new material.

In an interesting twist, Colorado favorite Sound Tribe Sector 9 started things off. While most fans had yet to enter the venue when the show started, the hardcore STS9 fans were there in full-force.

If bringing in STS9 was a way to appeal to the Colorado crowd and sell more tickets, Jay-Z need not have worried as tickets for the show sold out quickly.

Once the crowd was ready for him, Jay-Z hit the stage and commanded the attention of everyone in the arena.

Unlike most hip-hop shows, Jay-Z broke from the norm by actually rapping all the lyrics to his songs, rather than just emphasizing every other word.

The entire crowd sang along to lyrics from songs such as “99 Problems” and his recent smash hit, “Empire State of Mind,” as well as older songs like “Big Pimpin'” and “Hard Knock Life.”

Jay-Z interacted with fans between songs, even getting different sides of the venue to compete for which side was the loudest and conducting a venue-wide hands wave.

Camera operators on either side of the stage videotaped the crowd and allowed Jay-Z to call out specific fans and comment on the prettiest girls in the audience.

Accompanied by a DJ, a drummer and a horns section, Jay-Z was every bit the classy thug. Dressed in a black shirt, jeans and wearing classic Wayfarer lenses, he was the epitome of hipster cool.

Having been in the game for so long, Jay-Z knows how to use a stage and work the crowd.

Running from one end of the stage to the other, he made sure to hit every section of the audience and his appreciation for the crowd’s enthusiasm was evident.

Jay-Z was joined by Trey Songz and Young Jeezy. Jeezy gave Jay a break halfway though the set and performed a selection of his own material, including “Imma Go Hard” and “Soul Survivor.” Compared to Hova’s, Trey Songz and Young Jeezy’s performances were weak.

Jay-Z closed things off with a round of his older material including “’03 Bonnie and Clyde” and “Can I Get A…”