June 24, 2008 12:00

Jay-Z to cover The Prodigy, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse at Glastonbury? Jay-Z Tickets

Rapper gives a hint about his headline set in Norway

Photo Gallery: Jay-Z
Photo: Dean Chalkley

Jay-Z played his final gig before his headline appearance at Glastonbury this weekend (June 28), performing at the Hove festival in Arendal, Norway last night (June 23).

Taking the main stage in front of 18,000 fans at 10.15pm (CET), the rapper played an hour-and-a-half set, which included covers of Rihanna's 'Umbrella', The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up', Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' and Estelle's 'American Boy', giving some big hints about possible numbers he will perform at Glastonbury.

Dressed all in black, with dark sunglasses and sporting two medallions Jay-Z arrived on the island of Tromoy, where the festival takes place, via speedboat before being dropped off backstage in a BMW marshalled by two security quad bikes visible on the stage's video screens as the set commenced.

With a entourage of 36 people joining him at the bash, the Brooklyn-based rapper was joined onstage by a ten-piece band, including a full brass section and two percussionists all dressed smartly in white shirts and black waistcoats. He began with 'Say Hello' after shouting, "The Roc boy is in the building tonight."

His set included many huge crowd favourites drawn from his fourteen year career including '99 Problems', 'It's A Hard Knock Life', 'Big Pimpin', 'Song Cry', 'Girls Girls Girls', and 'Encore'.

Despite Jay-Z's love of collaborations, rapper Memphis Bleek was the only vocalist who assisted Jay-Z onstage, joining him for three songs.

There were loud boos from the crowd mid-set as the stage visuals froze with a picture of American president George W Bush shortly followed by loud cheers as image of Presidential candidate Barack Obama appeared on the large video backdrop.

The backdrop also displayed images of the fallout of Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, and clips from a variety of Jay-Z videos.

Speaking from the stage Jay-Z said: "I appreciate the love tonight Hove, it's a beautiful feeling – lets do one more, I owe you guys," before concluding his set with the Linkin Park-remixed version of 'Encore'.

To read more about about Hove festival including appearances from Black Kids, Les Savy Fav and The Cool Kids head to NME's festival blog at our dedicated festivals page.