Lil Wayne: Very late and very, very good at Jam

Editor's note: Deadline prevented us from having a full report from Sunday's KUBE Summer Jam in NW Life on Monday ("KUBE Summer Jam: Waiting for Wayne"). Here's reporter Andrew Matson's take on the late-night rappers on the bill — the Game and headliner Lil Wayne.

Concert Review |

There'd been rumors all day New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne wasn't going to show up Sunday at Summer Jam. But once new rumors circulated that he was on an airplane, then at Sea-Tac, then in a car, the sold-out White River Amphitheatre got ready.

The readiness wasn't the same vibe felt earlier in the day for performers Ray J, Bow Wow and T-Pain. That was voyeuristic interest in someone else's sexy party.

For Wayne, Summer Jam elevated itself and White River Amphitheatre became a real community of music fans that only wanted to see Wayne be Wayne. All attention shot Wayne-ward when he ran on the stage in his black Adidas track suit.

He did a crazy set, running around the stage, rapping sitting down, kicking, air-fighting, pulsing on the floor, mumbling, yelling and just freaking out. He also rapped very well, enunciating clearly (mostly) and relying heavily on his DJ's cutting the volume out on backing tracks to undress and emphasize key punch-line rhymes. The audience yelled these in unison. It happened often, because Wayne has thousands of clever rhymes, and worked every time, because Wayne is the type of rapper whose oeuvre gets memorized. Everyone that likes Wayne likes him specifically, personally, but most of all, lyrically.

During singer T-Pain's set, I saw girls hyperventilating, screaming, "I love you T-Pain!" During Wayne's set, which featured some improv, freestyle rhyming, I heard more than one person remark on his skills: "Damn, he's good."

Before he went on, people were rapping lines, trying to remember their favorite Wayne zingers. He did lots, culling from early albums, recent platinum smash "Tha Carter III" and his widely downloaded "mixtape" releases.

Compton, Calif., rapper the Game set a new tone before Wayne, throwing handfuls of cash into the crowd and barking through profanity-laced, West Coast-style aggro jams. It was a dark, exciting change from the earlier performers' varied but similar celebrations of "the good life."

But nothing at Summer Jam compared to Lil Wayne. He looked a little out of control at times — especially during lengthy spoken word sex-advice asides but mostly rapped hard and composed. For people worried he's doing too much drugs lately, it was a reassuring sight he's not yet falling apart.

For everyone else, it was probably the best rap show they saw all summer.

Andrew Matson: 206-464-2153 or amatson@seattletimes.com