Justin Timberlake Concert

Justin Timberlake performs @ the Roseland Ballroom

So after the US Open, I went to see Justin Timberlake play at the Roseland Ballroom. This was his post-VMA performance, which meant that there was a high likelihood that he'd have a lot of guests performing with him. I went with Vero and the same girls that I went to AmsterJam with. I had originally bought tickets for me and Vero, but I was surprised that the other girls were coming, but I guess I should have known since Vero said that I was the one who got them the tickets. Just another piece missing in my memory of AmsterJam.

It took us a really long time to actually get into Roseland for the concert. The line snaked around the block. Even after some serious cutting of the line, we didn't get into the place until around 12 AM, even though we lined up around 10:15. And then we played the waiting game. Justin didn't take the stage until a little after 1 AM, but people didn't get as restless as they did at Kanye because there was a lot of celebrity watching to be done. Among those seen in the audience were Diddy, Usher, and Chris Brown. Another fun part of the pre-concert festivities was one of the girls standing in front of me (not the ones I came with) basically collapsing in the crowd. She was either dehydrated, drunk, or something else, but I ended up carrying her out of the crowd so that security could help her. Crazy way to start the concert.

When Justin finally hit the stage, the place went nuts. It probably would have been crazier if it wasn't an 18+ show, but never underestimate how loud a bunch of drunk 20-something girls can scream. He opened with "Cry Me A River" and threw in a few choice hand movements to confirm that he may still not be over his infamous break-up with Britney Spears. He then segued into "Senorita," one of my favorite songs of his.

(sound quality is pretty bad for all video clips so turn the volume down)

JT performs "Cry Me A River"

JT performs "Senorita"

Then he started to break out his new material, which like me, it seems a lot of people had already downloaded. He opened with "Damn Girl" and I knew that meant his first guest of the night would be appearing. As expected, Will.i.Am of the Black Eyed Peas came onstage midway through the song to perform his verse. People went crazy.

Will.i.Am performs with JT

JT and Will.i.Am perform "Damn Girl"

Then JT performed one of my favorite songs from his new album, "My Love." Of course, TI came onstage to perform his verse as well and the place lost it. To top that, JT jumped on the piano and accompanied TI as TI performed his own hit, "Why You Wanna." The best part of that performance was that after TI rapped, "So how you keep sayin' no with yo panties so wet," one of the girls in front of me (again, not the girls I was with), pulled off her panties and held them above her head screaming, "TI made my panties wet!" Fuckin' hilarious!

JT and TI perform "My Love"

TI hits the stage

TI performs "Why You Wanna"

After TI finished, JT ran through a bunch of other songs, including "Like I Love You" which included a brief interpolation of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and some new songs including "Until The End Of Time," "What Goes Around Comes Around," and my favorite, "LoveStoned- I Think She Knows."

Then he brought out the most unexpected guest of the night, JC Chasez, formerly of N'Sync. JT jumped on the piano as he accompanied JC who sang a new song, which I think is titled "Fire" and is produced by Timbaland. I wasn't sure if I'd really like that part of the performance, but I was quickly won over. JC can sing.

JT and JC Chasez perform "Fire"

The guests didn't stop. Next, Three 6 Mafia hit the stage to perform "Chop Me Up" with JT. At the end of the song, Timbaland appeared to rap his part of the song and then people went even crazier. Everyone expected them to perform SexyBack, but instead, they did a version of Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous Girl" and the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps." I hate the song "My Humps," but I can't deny that its a great song in a club because girls go crazy over that song!

Then the lights went down and the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" started pounding on the speakers. People went nuts. I guess this is the song of choice to get people going and dancing because Kanye played it at his show too. But that was just the warm-up as the song segued into SexyBack. People lost their shit and the place almost turned into a rave. Then JT and Timbaland slowed it down and did a go-go version of "SexyBack," probably the worst decision of the night, but that was fine. The concert was great, and maybe on of the best concerts I've ever been to. By the time it was all done, it was almost 4 AM, I was exhausted, and I had to be up in 3 hours for work.