Jay-Z, Beyonce play Barack Obama inauguration-eve show

Plus Mary J Blige covers U2 at intimate Washington DC gig

Jay-Z paid tribute to Barack Obama on the eve of his inauguration with a special one-off intimate concert at Washington DC‘s Warner Theater tonight (January 19).

Joined by an impressive array of guests, tickets for the show (billed as “An Evening With Jay-Z”) ranged from $100 to $500 as fans joined the rapper in celebrating the beginning of the new presidency.

With a backdrop featuring huge images of Obama, the atmosphere inside the auditorium was electric throughout the show, with the crowd remaining on their feet for the entire set.

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Backed by his 10-piece band, Jay-Z played a set drawn from across his back catalogue including ‘Hard Knock Life’, ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ and ’99 Problems’, which featured samples from AC/DC‘s ‘Back In Black’.

‘Jigga My Nigga’, ‘Say Hello To The Bad Guy’ and ‘Brooklyn (Go Hard)’ – the latter of which is expected to feature on forthcoming album ‘The Blueprint 3’ and can seen below – featured in the set.

The rapper, a long-time Obama supporter, did not speak directly about the politician, but he changed many of his lyrics to reference the president-elect. At one point he even rapped a specially penned a cappella tribute to the incoming commander-in-chief proclaiming: “Obama ran so our children could fly“.

As well as featuring several onstage contributions from rapper Young Jeezy, the show also featured a 15-minute set by Mary J. Blige culminating in a cover of U2‘s ‘One’.

The biggest cheer of the night, however, was reserved for Beyonce who appeared onstage for a high-energy guest spot with Jay-Z which saw her perform ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’.

The show ended with Jay-Z dishing out champagne to fans in the front row, toasting the “beautiful” four years to come before leading the crowd through loud chants of “Obama, Obama“.

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Along with the hip-hop community who were out in force at the show, the likes of R.E.M bassist Mike Mills and actor Samuel L Jackson also managed to get tickets for the over-subscribed event.

See NME.COM today for more coverage of the musical tributes expected to accompany Barack Obama‘s inauguration today (January 20).

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