JAŸ-Z Sets Yankee Stadium Attendance Record on Day 3 Amid Security Trouble After Subdued Day 2 (Review)

Remember the hopefulness radiating in the air after day one of JAŸ-Z’s Yankee Stadium show? That energy was all but lost on day two – even after surprising fans with hip-hop royalty in Slick Rick, Pharrell, and Eminem.

Day two, the July 11 show dedicated entirely to 2001’s The Blueprint, an album that many fans regard as JAŸ’s magnum opus, thrived on a more technical level. JAŸ-Z led the charge with masterful renditions of some of the most emotional songs in his catalog, like “Song Cry,” “Heart of the City,” and “Never Change.”

Loud cheers from the crowd were heard as Hov leaned into his more boastful records with a little help; “The Ruler’s Back” featured an appearance from an iced-out Slick Rick; “Renegade,” of course, welcomed a sharp-tongued Eminem to the stage, sending Yankee Stadium into a frenzy followed by a bombastic version of “Lose Yourself,” blended with Hov’s long-since retired “Takeover”; and the ever-youthful Pharrell hitting the stage, showing off the duo’s dynamic chemistry, performing “Excuse Me Miss,” “I Just Wanna Love U,” “Frontin” and “Allure”.

The storied emcee performed The Blueprint front-to-back at almost neck-breaking speed, with little rest for the audience to catch their breath. However, unlike on day one, Jay hit the stage closer to 10 p.m. and then ended the night abruptly at 10:40 p.m., with no actual encore, but rather a performance of The Black Album’s “Encore.” Glaringly, day two also excluded other bells and whistles that made Reasonable Doubt’s celebration so awe-inducing on day one. Well, that and the fact that day two didn’t have Beyoncé, who became one of the biggest stories of the first night of shows.

Despite the lukewarm reception, Hov’s day two show managed to shatter and then set the record for most tickets ever sold for a concert at Yankee Stadium at 45,832, breaking JAŸ-Z 30’s previous record from Friday night. According to Live Nation, The Blueprint celebration exceeded the sales of his star-studded first night of shows, which raked in 44,916 fans.

Now, day three, on the other hand, was an entirely different beast. The July 12 show had a lot riding on it after the curiously shortened day two outing; fans chattered online about whether or not JAŸ had more in the tank to outdo the precedent set by day one of the three shows. And with it being the final night of his celebration, longtime supporters of the rap superstar predicted that he would go out with a bang – and that this show was the one to attend.

In anticipation of the increase in demand, Roc Nation posted a press release to its Instagram account, urging fans to “arrive early to tonight’s JAŸ-Z concert at Yankee Stadium,” and that guests would be able to line up starting at 5 p.m ET. and then be allowed to enter the venue at 6 p.m ET, with the show set to begin at 8 p.m ET. But things quickly went awry as showtime approached.

According to ABC News, the New York Police Department had to call for a lockdown at Yankee Stadium after a large group of people without tickets rushed the gates around 8:50-ish p.m. ET. The ensuing chaos resulted in a myriad of statements addressing the security breach. Roc Nation, Live Nation, and Yankee Stadium jointly thanked the NYPD and the stadium’s security team in a show of solidarity for their “leadership and direction throughout the evening, putting the welfare of attendees above all other considerations.”

Pollstar reached out to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for a statement on the matter, with the mayor calling for a deeper investigation into what or who exactly led to the security breach.

“Last night is something that we’re going to follow up on,” Mayor Mamdani said in a statement. “As you know, there were many New Yorkers who were delayed after there was a breach of security by those who didn’t have tickets, and then it resulted in a multiple-hour delay for many others, so that’s something we’ll follow up on soon.”

After a wait that felt as if the show would be canceled and rescheduled, the lights dimmed at approximately 12:16 a.m. ET. JAŸ-Z finally took center stage, soundtracked by the intro to the compilation album, Dynasty: Roc La Familia. The beat, which samples “She Said She Loves Me” by Kleeer, blared throughout the stadium, with the brooding yet ambitious song serving as a foreshadowing of the night to follow.

Right after the song, JAŸ signaled to the band with a wave of his hand to pause on the next track. In a rare moment of transparency, the emcee spoke directly to the Yankee Stadium crowd, who had been waiting for a show for four hours and desperately wanted answers about what contributed to the delay.

Hov explained that he was told there were “10,000 people outside of the stadium” waiting to get in after someone had rushed the doors, prompting a lockdown.

“I didn’t wanna start the music, and people get trampled and hurt,” he explained, before apologizing for the inconvenience. “I had to make sure everybody was okay, so I appreciate your patience. I didn’t want to start a show without everyone here and everyone safe.”

The audience roared in approval of his decision and, after jokingly telling concertgoers “some of your backs are hurting…so, we gonna go till, like, 5 a.m,” JAŸ-Z finally got the show started.

It was unclear what day three, billed as Extra Innings, would focus on. Would this show be all about B-sides? Would there be a focus on albums that he rarely performs, like his 2006 comeback album, Kingdom Come, or 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail?

After about two songs, fans learned that the “extra” in Extra Innings was all about the special guests. Teyana Taylor took over Mary J. Blige’s verse on “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” Jermaine Dupri joined for an electric performance of “Money Ain’t a Thang,” and Jeezy, who canceled the July 12 date of his Las Vegas residency three weeks ago, made an appearance and performed “Seen It All” and “Go Crazy.” Usher surprised the crowd during “Heart of the City,” “Throwback,” and “Part II (On the Run),” while The-Dream hit the stage for “No Church in the Wild.” Swizz Beatz brought his signature hype, performing a handful of classic records with JAŸ including “Money Cash,” “Jigga My N***a,” “Welcome to the Jungle” and “On to the Next One,” and a slew of songs in remembrance of the late-great DMX. Pharrell later returned for a hit-filled set featuring “Ain’t No,” “Excuse Me Miss (La La La),” “Give It to Me,” “Frontin'” and “Allure,” before reuniting with The Clipse for “Grindin’.” Naturally, given the resurgence of Ja Rule’s 2004 hit song, “New York,” in the aftermath of the New York Knicks’ historic championship, Jadakiss and Fat Joe performed the track to bring the celebratory weekend to a close.

In the middle of an already jam-packed, star-studded affair, the biggest audience reaction belonged to none other than Beyoncé and the shocking return of Rihanna. Beyoncé performed a special rendition of “Drunk in Love” alongside her husband, which featured an accompanying choreographed dance number. Rihanna aided JAŸ in the Kanye West-less performance of “Run This Town,” leading directly into the singer’s 2015 hit, “Bitch Better Have My Money.”

There was no doubt that day three ended far better than how it began, so much so that the crowd, on various occasions, began approvingly chanting out “Hova” in unison. And while the show sadly had to come to an end, concluding around 3:30 a.m., so not quite 5 a.m., JAŸ-Z did hint at something live music-adjacent coming a year from now.

“When we finally got this show started, it was fun,” Hov told the crowd with Pollstar in attendance rather coyly. “But it’s all good; We’ll see y’all here next summer.”

Whether the “we” refers to Hov alongside another artist or possibly to Beyoncé is currently unclear, and little is known about whether JAŸ-Z is gearing up to head out on a proper tour, which would be for the first time in eight years. According to Pollstar Boxoffice reports, JAŸ’s last solo tour was the sold-out “4:44 Tour” in support of his thirteenth studio album, 4:44, which grossed $4,335,805 during a back-to-back show at the Barclay’s Arena in Brooklyn on Nov. 26 & Nov. 27, 2017. As for a co-headlining tour, Hov’s previous trek went down in 2018 for the sold-out “On The Run II Tour” alongside Beyoncé. During back-to-back nights at Pasadena, CA’s Rose Bowl on Sept. 22 & 23, 2018, the couple grossed $13,464,062, per Pollstar Boxoffice report.  

In the meantime, fans who are looking for more JAŸ-Z this year can catch the emcee bringing his Reasonable Doubt-focused show to London on Sept. 4, Paris on Sept. 10, and Los Angeles on Oct. 23.