Watch the Throne

If you went to the pub with nay sayers of the 2012 live gig experience and got involved in a bicker, it's fairly likely they'd argue that this whole racket has become too bogged down in nostalgia.

And tis true. A shit load of elderly acts have been restringing their instruments and getting back out on the road in search of a little more dollar - in a supposedly struggling industry, this is where many see the money as being at.

Thankfully, this year's must see show, Watch the Throne, is not one based on (too much?) looking back - and in many ways, it's upped the ante for what constitutes a spectacle.

Featuring two behemoths of hip, Kanye West and Jay-Z, the pair have been playing cavernous arenas probably only just capable of containing the former's ever-burgeoning ego, never mind the huge hip hop sound they bring.

We clocked them on a Sunday at the notoriously vibe-less O2 arena but lo, they brought atmosphere, character and even fire in buckets. Both adorned in leather gear and carrying enough hits between them to do something serious, they swaggered through nearly two hours of tight hip hop music to a rapturous and skunk-fuelled crowd. The whole ting culminated in almost six rewinds of the album's highlight, N***** in Paris. Audacious in the extreme...