By Daniel Paiz

30 years of Illmatic has graced the planet, and Nas celebrates his debut milestone at Red Rocks. Nas didn’t just decide to bring a band, however: he conspired with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) to truly create a one-of-a-kind experience. Concerts with the CSO are usually pretty good, but this was outstanding regardless of genre. Nas’ debut album, Illmatic, was orchestrated to sound at times cinematic and grandiose, and at others loungey and intimate. That range of emotion, sound, and musicality is not an easy thing to do. When you put together a legendary rapper and an experienced symphony, you get immeasurable enjoyment.

Opening up the show

Tobe Nwigwe is a man who has been building his following with viral videos, headnodic beats, and energetic shows for quite some time. The Houston representative made his Red Rocks debut opening for Nas and was incredibly excited for it. That excitement might be partially due to the birth of his fifth child two days ago. The emcee normally would have performed with his wife in addition to the singers and band members present, but understandably Martica “Fat” Nwigwe is resting back home.

Tobe delivered a handful of songs and emotions, letting the audience know altitude is not something he’s used to. “On My Soul” was the track to open the night, a collab with Nas and Jacob Banks featured on the latest Transformers movie in 2023. Other standout tracks performed include “Lord Forgive Me”, “Been Broke”, and “Fye Fye”. Tobe closed the set with his very popular “Try Jesus” with four back-up singers delivering Gospel-esque ad-libs and choruses to the delight of the crowd. Red Rocks is a place Tobe Nwigwe likely returns to at some point down the road.

“Woke up this morning…”

Touring the globe several times over should be all the experience Nas needs to perform any venue he encounters. Despite his storied career, this almost felt like Nas’ first time again at Red Rocks, as the Queens emcee soaked up the moment and embraced the crowd and atmosphere. There are times when you can tell a musician is having a good time, and then you can tell where they really feel it.

The veteran NY emcee didn’t seem to take the evening for granted, performing Illmatic in its entirety. At that point, the wonderful Colorado Symphony Orchestra received all the applause the crowd could muster, and quietly departed offstage. The night was not over.

Nas, his DJ, and his bandmates played a medley of songs, jumping around several different albums. “Made You Look”, “Got Ur Self A Gun”, and “One Mic” were all standouts, although every song had the crowd swaying and bobbing. Nas thanked the crowd several times, and moments before a few rain droplets landed, the evening closed and the 30th anniversary celebration of Illmatic was complete.

Bonus: Unfulfilled prediction

During the concert review of Damian and Stephen Marley, this writer excitedly hoped that Damian would stick around and perform a few tracks from the Nas-Damian Marley collab album, Distant Relatives. After all, both artists were at Red Rocks on the same weekend, and both worked with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Alas, the dream performance did not happen. Also, Tobe Nwigwe and Nas unfortunately didn’t perform “On My Soul” either, since Tobe opened his set with that track. Fortunately, this was a wonderful weekend packed with legendary and memorable performances at the best venue in existence.

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