JAY-Z’s just-announced 4:44 Tour, sure to be one of the biggest of the fall, will not stop in Pittsburgh.
The closest city is Cleveland, at the Quicken Loans Arena on Nov. 19. The tour is presented by Live Nation, which has a Cleveland office that books the Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh markets.
It’s not a shock that JAY-Z, supporting his 14th album, would pass on Pittsburgh after the turnout for the Magna Carter World Tour here back in 2014. On that cold January night, the top sections of the PPG Paints Arena were curtained off, as only around 6,000 fans turned out, well below the arena’s capacity.
Three years before that, in 2011, Pittsburgh was a rare market in which the Watch the Throne Tour with Kanye West did not sell out. That was a November night when the Steelers were playing the Kansas City Chiefs on the road on Sunday Night Football.
Kanye now has skipped Pittsburgh on his two subsequent tours: Yeezus in 2014 and Saint Pablo in 2016, both of which played the Bryce Jordan Center at State College.
It’s not like hip-hop doesn’t draw in Pittsburgh. Drake and Chance the Rapper both played to capacity crowds at PPG Paints Arena in the past year.
However, Kendrick Lamar, who played to a sold-out Stage AE in 2013, does not have Pittsburgh on the itinerary this summer for his DAMN Tour.
There is no comment from Live Nation on the tour not playing here.
Here are the details if you want to get JAY-Z tickets in Cleveland or perhaps Washington, D.C. on Nov. 29:
Tickets for the 4:44 TOUR go on sale to the general public starting at 10 a.m. Friday at 10 a.m. at livenation.com.
TIDAL members will have access to a special presale beginning at noon Monday July 10 at TIDAL.com.
Citi cardmembers will have presale access from noon Monday through 10 p.m. Thursday at www.citiprivatepass.com.
First Published: July 10, 2017, 3:16 p.m.