Jay Z & Justin Timberlake
Rogers Centre
Toronto, ON
July 17

The co-headlining stadium tour undertaken by Sean “Jay Z” Carter and Justin Timberlake wasn’t dubbed “Legends of the Summer” for nothing. Find two leading men who are bigger and more accomplished in the pop music universe, and you’d have a license to print money too. The sheer volume of hits that the iconic pair trotted out, when the first official tour date arrived and 35,000 rabid fans filled the “SkyDome”, was a top-40-radio-junkie’s dream come true. Befitting the legendary tag, the performance itself was also monstrous.

The latest collab between Jay and J.T. – “Holy Grail” – kicked things off as the massive stage sprang to life. The fourteen-piece backing band, a combination of each mega-star’s regular squad, was expectedly on point with high octane arrangements of Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” and Carter’s “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” – the latter preceded by its sample-sake track, The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. The first of four show segments concluded with “Tunnel Vision”, perhaps the best cut on Timberlake’s 2013 LP “The 20/20 Experience”, the former N’Sync-er showing off his future-R&B chops and making an early play for MVP.

The “solo” sections that followed split the concert demographic neatly, in general inciting the dudes in the house to rap along with every Jay lyric, before allowing Justin’s screaming army of young women to lose their minds. Carter took the spotlight first, digging into his expansive catalog for the surefire combo of “Big Pimpin’” and “Jigga What, Jigga Who”. Employing the old “I can’t hear you” technique, Mr. Beyonce then demanded the decibels be raised to 99 before dropping the hard rock rhetoric of “99 Problems”. Late in this first mini-set, the re-introductory beat drop of “Public Service Announcement” shook the very foundation of the dome, and soon enough Timberlake returned to handle vocal duties on the soulful “Heart of the City” and take over for his own showcase.

With hip hop pushed to the sideline and straight pop in full focus, Timberlake claimed his place as the biggest star on the planet. Switching from electric to acoustic guitar, then to keyboards, all the while dancing and effortlessly plying his stunning voice, J.T. lived up to all his hype. Wisely leaning on “Future Sex/Love Sounds”, the seminal 2006 release that saw Timbaland guide Timberlake into “cool” territory, the ladies’ choice ran through a series of show-stoppers. With Carter re-emerging for the final stretch, a barrage of radio heavyweights was on its way.

“Cry Me A River” and “What Goes Around…Comes Around” combined for the biggest moment of the night, the band firing on all cylinders and Jay playing hype-man for Justin’s crowning cuts. “Empire State of Mind” made its ubiquitous appearance, Alicia Keys as plainly absent for the chorus as Rihanna would be for the version of “Run This Town” that followed. Meanwhile, Timberlake’s “Mirrors” proved its coliseum worth and Carter’s “Encore” signalled the beginning of the end. “SexyBack” came with a wall of lasers, “Suit & Tie” continued to be un-danceable, and the Trayvon Martin-dedicated “Young Forever” provided one final gleaming hook for J.T. to crush. The legends in question may be preaching to the converted, but their gospel is pretty hard to refute.