Dos Equis Pavillion, Dallas, Texas, by Brooks Burris
Texas rolled out the red Carpet for the King and Queen of hip hop this month as Mary J. Blige and Nas made stops in Austin, Houston, and Dallas on their Royalty Tour.
(photos Brooks Burris)
On a hot August night in Dallas, a packed Dos Equis Pavilion welcomed the power duo just after 8:30 with no need for an opener. Nas and Blige kicked off the show together performing their hit song “Thriving” with the entire crowd on their feet. Following their second song “Reach Out” Blige left the stage to let New York native Nas hype the crowd with songs spanning his 25-year career in hip hop including his debut album “Illmatic”. He started recording Illmatic when he was just 17.
Nas worked the entire stage as he was backed by a full band and DJ during his 20 plus song set. He mentioned that the hot Texas weather “was sexy in its own way” with a smile then dove straight back into a fiery rhyme, keeping the crowd on their feet. At another point in the show the rapper called for peace asking the crowd to repeat “no bad energy please, no bad energy” then leading into songs from his latest release “Lost Tapes 2”.
Following Nas’ final song “One Mic” Nas sat down on stage with an exhausted grin proving that he truly left it all on stage.
Soon, production quickly shuffled the set to make way for Blige’s camp. As Mary took the stage the crowd erupted with excitement as she shouted “What’s up Dallas?”. Blige Kicked off her set with the song “I Can Love You” backed by a massive digital burning heart. It wasn’t long before Nas returned to the stage to perform the soulful “Love Is All We Need” as the crowd belted out the lyrics with them.
Through the tour Blige has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of her album “My Life” by performing a medley of songs from the album including “Mary Jane”, “I’m The Only Woman,” “Don’t Go,” “You Gotta Believe” and ending with the crowd favorite “I’m Goin’ Down.” The nine-time Grammy award winner proved why she is a staple of hip-hop/r&b and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
Check out the complete photo gallery from the show.
