Jay-Z gave a nod to the legends Friday night (August 1) in his headlining performance at All Points West Music Festival in New Jersey's Liberty Park.

For his opening song, Jay paid respect by opening to the Beastie Boys’s classic record, “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn.”

“Everybody just started going nuts as soon as they heard the guitars,” recalls Lamont Caldwell, a touring saxophonist for Jay’s live band. “He’s like, ‘If the audience was looking for the Beastie Boys, I’ma give them a little bit of the Beastie Boys.’ That’s completely selfless.”

As XXLMag.com previously reported, Hov replaced The Beastie Boys, who canceled due to necessary treatment for group member Adam “MCA” Yauch’s throat cancer.

After saluting The Beasties and shouting out Ice T, who watched from backstage, Jay breezed through his extensive catalog in a nearly two-hour set, which included everything from Reasonable Doubt’s “Can I Live” to Blueprint 3’s new single, “Run This Town,” performed live for the first time.

“One thing about playing with Jay is that he knows how to put on a show,” Caldwell said. “After being in the business for so long, he knows how to keep people entertained.”

Surprise guest Memphis Bleek played hypeman for much of the set, while Q-Tip, Organized Konfusion and the Pharcyde performed earlier in the day. –John Kennedy

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