From the Palace, Jay-Z and Kanye West 'Watch the Throne'

In a venue fittingly named the Palace, raps royalty held court Saturday night.

Ruling the hip-hop kingdom as The Throne, Jay-Z and Kanye West swung through Auburn Hills to serve up a booming, muscular show of hits for an audience of more than 15,000.

In a booming, muscular show with an array of eye-popping visual treats, Jay and Ye served up a staggering litany of hits 39 in the 2-hour set as they expertly pulled the crowd into periodic frenzies. With a hyped audience that rarely sat (and that included local music luminaries as varied as Anita Baker and Mike Posner), the night had the inescapable feel of a Big Event.

The two superstars opened their Palace spectacular on opposing stages across the arena floor, facing each other as they worked into the pulsing new song H.A.M.

Soon they were together on the main stage, swapping verses on material from their album Watch the Throne before rotating turns in the spotlight as they drew generously from their respective solo repertoires.

West was the more animated, playing to the crowd and striding gregariously across stage, a metaphorical heart on his black T-shirt sleeve. Jay-Z seven years his senior at 41 opted for classic cool, tapping his two-decade catalog with an unblinking, time-tested confidence.

For all of the evenings spectacle fountains of flame, a mammoth American flag, giant hydraulic cubes, simply stunning lighting design the show felt tight and centered, never too tricked out for its own good.

It was a big night with a minimalist sensibility, keeping the focus on the duos music, a show where the tension of Welcome to the Jungle gave way to the loping Gotta Have It, the spitfire rhymes of Jigga What opening the door for the party-starting Flashing Lights and cinematic Jesus Walks.

Weaving two big egos into one jumbo show doesnt sound like an easy task. But onstage, at least, the pair made it work: The duos camaraderie came off as a mix of familial bond and professional respect, and the in! terplay on songs like 99 Problems was infectious.

There was a measured artfulness to it all, from occasional displays of wildlife scenes to the strobing lasers that bathed Jay-Z on Dirt Off Your Shoulders. Wests Good Life came with an aural color to match the warm spectrum of lights behind him. On a night that often seemed as much cultural summit as concert the fusion of two of popular musics defining voices No Church in the Wild provided dramatic punch as the show soared through its climactic homestretch.

That finale, a crescendo of hits that included Jay-Zs Big Pimpin and Kanyes Gold Digger, wrapped up with a crowd-pleasing, marathon replay session: In whats become a quirky but fun tour ritual, the two delivered seven renditions of their song N in Paris, besting the record six that had closed out Mondays show in Boston.