Grandstand review: T-Pain and Ludacris draw huge crowd with fun, nostalgic show

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

What’s likely to stand as the most-attended concert of this year’s Minnesota State Fair Grandstand season saw two guys who last had hits during the Obama administration set a sold-out crowd of 14,005 on fire Tuesday night.

It turns out T-Pain and Ludacris have a lot more smashes between them that one might remember and the pairing proved to be the perfect match for the Great Minnesota Get-Together. The pair offered an evening of breezy, nostalgic bangers that had the well-lubricated audience singing and dancing along.

Best known for his use of Auto-Tune (even though he’s got a great singing voice), Faheem “T-Pain” Najm clearly surprised some fans by starting promptly at 7 p.m. (Unless there are weather issues, Grandstand shows follow a tight schedule.) But he quickly won over the whole place with his playfully goofy stage presence.

Midway through his hour-long show, T-Pain gave a shout-out to a fan in the crowd hoisting an “I (heart) T-Pain” sign and dressed in the rapper’s signature top hat and white sunglasses. With a smile, he then dedicated his 2005 breakthrough “I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper)” to her. Much of his other banter was far too racy to repeat here, but he did accurately call the crowd and show “fun as hell.”

T-Pain packed in more than 20 songs (both his own and tracks he guested on), even if many were cut down to a verse and chorus. “Chopped ‘n’ Skrewed,” “Can’t Believe It,” “Best Love Song,” “Low,” “Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor),” “5 O’Clock,” “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” and “Welcome to My Hood” all earned cheers from the audience.

Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges followed a similar path, winnowing down his hits (and guest spots) to their essence. And where T-Pain’s staging was sparse at best, Ludacris had more razzle-dazzle to back him including an intro video that featured a nod to his role in the long-running “Fast and Furious” franchise. Later, he asked how many people knew him from the movies and the crowd roared back in response.

While he resorted to some tired concert tricks — “you guys are the loudest crowd we’ve ever had,” that sort of thing — Ludacris chose his set list wisely, with a midsection run of Usher’s “Yeah,” Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart,” Justin Bieber’s “Baby” and Fergie’s “Glamorous” hitting the crowd hard. His own numbers — “Money Maker,” “How Low,” “Move Bitch,” “Stand Up” — also helped to fashion a fun and memorable evening.

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