After years of preparation, it’s finally time for the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. As spectators poured into the city on Wednesday night, the best destination to get hyped up was The Plaza at North Shore, where the official Opening Night Party packed the new venue.
Headlining the celebration was rapper Nelly, who dominated the charts in the early 2000s with a string of high-energy hip-hop hits. The St. Louis-repping rapper sent 14 songs to the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 between 2000 and 2012 — and he performed most of them during his set on Wednesday night.
An impressive feat, considering the set lasted just over a half-hour.
Doors opened at 6 p.m. and the crowd trickled in steadily as the sun slowly set. Concertgoers danced along to a DJ spinning old school hits like “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock and “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe, as well as new classics. A smaller early crowd with plenty of room to move did the Dougie, many of them decked out in their finest Steelers gear.
A good number of NFL teams’ colors were visible among the sea of Pittsburgh black and gold. Partiers rocking Vikings, Jets, Chiefs and Dolphins jerseys mingled and danced together with Steelers fans. (After all, we’re all just people who can’t help shouting along when “Yeah!” by Usher comes on.)
The energy waned a little as darkness fell over the outdoor venue and there was still no sign of the headliner. At a little after 9:30 p.m., Herky Pollock — the founder of Legacy Hospitality Partners, the company that owns the recently opened Plaza at North Shore — took the stage to welcome the crowd. Then he handed over the mic to Mayor Corey O’Connor. “Welcome to Pittsburgh’s NFL draft!” he called to the crowd. “Let’s have a great time, let’s have a great week.”
Nelly took the stage at about 9:45, finally answering the question asked in the title of his opening song, “Where the Party At?” The Midwest rapper is known for his bombastic, often melodic flow, and he keeps that same energy going live. He threw many of his songs’ big lines out to the crowd, who enthusiastically sang them back at him.
His second song was the more minimalist “E.I.,” which has some fun percussion in the chorus and continues the elongated “oh-ohhhhs” that were the rapper’s calling card in his early hits.
His DJ was great at switching things up to keep it fresh. In the “Bad Boys II” soundtrack hit “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” the busier music dropped out to be replaced by a stomp-clap beat that suited the siren-laden song surprisingly well.
Before showing off his sneaker knowledge with crowd favorite “Air Force Ones,” he performed the first verse of “Batter Up,” a cut by his rap group St. Lunatics.
“Pittsburgh, what’s happening?” he yelled to the crowd. “I want to thank each and every one of you who’s been holding down your boy for 25, 26, 27 years.”
For the “day ones,” he played his breakout hit “Country Grammar,” with its playground chant chorus that got the whole crowd dancing. For the second verse, the DJ dropped in the beat from rapper Juvenile’s modern club classic “Back That A** Up” and it took the atmosphere to a whole new level.
Founding St. Lunatics member City Spud was onstage with Nelly and the two launched into megahit (and one of the best summer jams ever made) “Ride Wit Me,” with Nelly’s voice sounding better and more melodic by the bar.
After a string of short clips of other high-energy tunes, the sinister-sounding opening chords of “Hot in Herre” got the crowd really screaming. Nelly sailed around the stage as he rapped the song with digital flames projected on the screen behind him.
After singing a couple verses of “Dilemma,” his 2002 duet with Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, he launched into his closing song, the later hit “Just a Dream.” He called for the out-of-towners to make some noise as he leaned over to perform the soaring, heartfelt song close to fans near the front of the stage. And then, at 10:17 p.m., the show was over.
The venue will host other concerts in the coming days, including with DJ Steve Aoki and rapper 2 Chainz. And for those who want another taste of Nelly, he’ll be performing at Point State Park on June 27 as part of America 250 PA’s statewide concert series.
It was a short but high-powered kickoff to the NFL Draft, which will flood the areas around The Plaza at North Shore by Thursday afternoon. As I walked across the Clemente Bridge toward Downtown after the show, I cast a quick glance over my shoulder at the mostly sleepy North Shore and said, “Oh, you don’t know what’s about to hit you.”