JAY Z performed in Nebraska for the first time ever, choosing Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln as the venue. While I was disappointed by his decision to pick Lincoln over Omaha, I still went to the concert because he is my favorite rapper. His performance didn’t disappoint. Yet at the same time it was a disappointing concert.

First off, JAY Z deserves credit for performing a perfect combination of old and new, giving fans a chance to hear some of his classics (Big Pimpin’, Hard Knock Life, Empire State of Mind and Izzo among others) while still performing a Magna Carta Holy Grail world tour.

JAY Z also gets praise for his actual rapping ability. To sum it up: he’s good. Really, really good. Though many artists sound good on an mp3, some artists sound like trash live. JAY Z sounds as good, if not better, live than he does on his albums.

Along with his song choice and rapping, his ability to energize the crowd was impressive. He got the crowd dancing and singing in a way only a legend can. Plus, he added a Nebraska touch by wearing a Ndamukong Suh jersey during much of the concert, which garnered a “SUH” chant, and made it seem like JAY Z knew something about Nebraska.

But, it was everything else that made the concert worse than I had expected.

The power of the stage went out mid-concert (wouldn’t have happened at the CenturyLink Center), and it took 30 minutes for arena workers to fix the error. During the power-outage, a number of “Go Big Red” chants started, in typical Nebraska fashion, but it was still boring, and everyone wanted JAY Z back on stage.

Once he did finally get back on stage, I expected him to perform 30 minutes longer than planned. But, he didn’t. He stopped at 11 p.m., just under two hours after he had first come on stage, which meant he only performed for an hour and a half, less than a normal concert. He didn’t even come back for an encore, despite fans chanting for an extra song or two.

While it was a great concert when he was on stage, and I hope to see him live again, it seemed like the concert was secondary for him, as the venue was smaller than a normal JAY Z concert venue and Lincoln and Omaha combined have a small population relative to the cities he normally plays. Plus, the concert was in Lincoln rather than Omaha.

Hopefully JAY Z will come to Omaha and visit either the CenturyLink Center or TD Ameritrade Park soon. Until then, I will appreciate his performance but not the long delay.