Why Jay-Z Shouldn't Be Supporting U2 Down Under

By now you’ve probably heard that U2 are coming back to New Zealand; it was an announcement that was mostly impressive for the fact that ticket prices would begin at $39.90 (with general admission floor tickets for $99.90), a pretty odd concession in this day and age, especially when taking into consideration that it’s one of the biggest bands in the world playing. Then last night on a segment for The 7pm Project, it was announced that Jay-Z would be joining U2 on their trip down under. It’s big news for fans of the jiggaman, but that initial glee was also accompanied by confusion. Why exactly is Jay-Z playing with U2? So let’s take a look at why this whole thing isn’t going to work out like Bono probably hopes it will.

Here’s a guy that’s more successful and richer than every other rapper on the planet (dude banked $63 million in the last year), playing the benchwarmer for U2. He’s not just a rapper, but a rap mogul. He married Beyonce. You get the idea – the most obvious reason he simply shouldn’t be supporting U2 is that he’s no support act. He’s recently taken to headlining festivals, which included a newsworthy show at Glastonbury in 2008 and a much talked about performance at Coachella earlier this year. He’s released 11 number one albums in the US and his audience here is far and wide. It’s also his first time visiting New Zealand, which you would think would be a perfect chance to cash in on a headline show. Instead, he along with a nine-piece band will treat the crowd to a short one-hour set which will be like a bad case of blue balls for his fans in attendance. Is this just going to end up being a medley of as many hits that he can fit into an hour?

It’s easily the oddest line-up we’ve had since, um, U2 played with Kanye West back in 2006 during the groups last tour. But it isn’t the first time that Jay-Z has played with the band before; last year he joined them on stage for a rendition of Sunday Bloody Sunday (watch it below), when U2 played a free show in commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and in January he teamed up with them again when they worked together on Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour), a song featuring Rihanna which they performed on the Hope For Haiti telethon. But unlike those one-off performances, this is a tour which will see Jay-Z — arguably the more important act to some people — be made to play a shorter set to a chunk of the crowd that isn’t there to see the guy. This barely adds up. So how about a separate Jay-Z headlining show? And if it’s not asking too much, can we maybe get a Beyonce sideshow too?

[via NZ Herald]