Gig review: J Cole at Motorpoint Arena

First things first, rest in peace Uncle Phil. Second of all, it is impossible to describe how excited I was for this concert. For context, J. Cole, in my eyes, is one of the greatest rappers to ever exist; his discography has been consistently brilliant ever since he broke out with The Come Up back in 2007. Now, as he promotes the closing of a chapter of his life with the two disc, 100 minute epic The Fall Off, I caught him at the Motorpoint Arena to see if he is as good in person as I thought he would be.

First of all, there is something I must address. If you have seen anything about this particular show, you would’ve heard about the delays that occurred - and in order to give the full account they must, sadly, be spoken of. I arrived at the show just after six, and I entered the arena an hour later at seven. Thankfully, I was at a point in the queue that I was part of the group which was allowed inside the building, as I found out when I spoke to someone and realised a majority of attendees were still outside, waiting. I must preface that none of this is anyone’s fault. There was an issue with equipment which had made the show nearly impossible to put on, according to Cole during his set. We finally all got inside the arena at around nine o’clock. During this time, I was worried about whether the concert was actually going to happen- but my doubts were unwarranted.

I think the best choice Cole and his crew made was to allow the opener, Bas, to perform despite delays. The reason I say this is because if not for Bas, the entire vibe of the concert would’ve been in a bad place. Bas hyped up the crowd, and made me wholly forget the ache that had taken place before. He had the DJ play songs from XXXTentacion, Kanye West, and other artists, and then went on to play some of his biggest hits. His set was short, most likely due to the circumstances which surrounded it, but he was the glue that held together the show for J. Cole.

After Bas had left the stage, the lights went down, and a blue spotlight searched through the crowd. It eventually landed on a quiet, indistinct area - but there was someone there. It was J. Cole, rapping within the audience, and it just set the mood perfectly for the rest of his massive set. Cole made his way through the crowd,  dapping up concert goers and signing anything thrown at him at either of his sides. I had heard for years of how humble of a man Jermaine Cole was, how he gave out his new album in CD format out of the back of his car, but this was physical proof of this fact. 

Meet anyone who has been to a J. Cole concert, and they will tell you that he is the greatest live rapper on Earth. I am here to say that… they are 100 percent right.  He raps every single word without missing a breath; he is so precise in his performance that I was out of breath more often than him (he never lost his breath).

The set design, as well, was stunning. There was a replica of a building from his hometown Fayetteville, North Carolina, alongside what I presume to be his actual Honda Civic that he has had since College. As well, he covers a vast majority of his entire discography, hits and deep cuts, within his setlist, so any sort of fan can thoroughly enjoy his performance. 

The funniest part of this show, by far, was when he was speaking about different cities before one of his tracks, A Tale of 2 Citiez, as he asks the crowd to pretend they’re from “The ‘Ville” before starting the song. When someone from Derby spoke, the entire room boo’d them multiple times (sorry anyone from Derby) alongside nearly anyone who wasn’t from Nottingham. 

In terms of standouts from Cole’s performance, there are too many to mention. From new songs like Two Six or Run A Train, or older tracks such as In The Morning, J. Cole put his everything into every facet of his performance. He thanked everyone involved for helping put the show on despite the hindrances they faced, which was nice to see. Cole, as well, is incredibly involved with his crowd throughout the show. For example, he decided to ask a member of the crowd to perform Johnny P’s Cadillac, his collaboration with Griselda member Benny The Butcher, with a member of the crowd. He decided on a man in an orange shirt he had seen at multiple previous shows, and that man gave his everything in his performance - even despite the lack of a microphone. 

Twice did Cole say “goodnight” to the crowd, but he quickly clarified it was in jest. He ended up performing more than 30 songs, despite being delayed to the stage by well over an hour. I was astonished that he had so much love for his fans - anyone else would have shortened their set and left at their allocated time. Cole ended his set with the one two three combo of Deja Vu, No Role Modelz and Quik Stop. The first two of those three were crowd favourites, as everyone rapped every single word. During the George W. Bush bridge of No Role Modelz, there was a rather humorous video of Jermaine impersonating the former president whilE that section played (sadly, George Bush was not a surprise guest). Quik Stop, the final track, has been a personal favourite since it came out earlier this year as its storytelling is some of Cole’s best. Live, the emotions of the song really come out and I found myself on the brink of tears.

Sadly, I had to leave before Cole did, as I had to rush home, but the memories of this show will not leave my head. This show was astonishing in the way that I fully expected to write something scathing or angry at the delays, but I don’t feel any of that any more. It is a real display of J. Cole’s talent that he can turn what was seemingly an absolute disaster into one of the best shows I've seen all year. This show actually taught me something that is really important: wait things out, despite how bad things seem. I saw on social media that some people left the show before even entering the arena, and that is a pity. Sometimes, the seemingly biggest disasters can turn into the best experiences you can have. After all, after every rainstorm there is a sunny day, and a rainbow on the side.

J. Cole performed at Motorpoint Arena on 31 October 2026