Lil Wayne, Tyga gave us the CliffsNotes version of hip-hop last night in Phoenix

When I saw that Lil Wayne's Tha Carter VI Tour setlist ran to more than 40 songs, I wondered how the artist could possibly do that many tracks in one concert.

When it was past 9:50 p.m. on Friday night at Talking Stick Amphitheatre and Wayne still hadn't started the show, I was even more curious (and getting quite impatient).

The solution, as it turned out, was one that I see more and more frequently, much to my dismay.

Because while Wayne took fans through decades of his hits, it was rare to get more than 90 seconds of any of them. God forbid a girl wants to hear more than one verse of "Got Money."

Tyga kicked off the night with a crowd-pleasing, cover-heavy set. The Compton-born rapper hyped up the audience with his hits "Rack City" and "Taste," plus other bangers such as "Ayy Ladies" by Travis Porter and "Loyal" by Chris Brown.

But even in the opening set, we didn't get a full song. Is it the TikTok effect, a.k.a the destruction of the modern attention span? An attempt to keep the energy level from dropping? Whatever it is, it seems to be standard operating procedure at shows these days.
To be honest, Lil Wayne's set didn't get off to the best start. Standing in front of a microphone, face partially covered by a hoodie, smoking a blunt, holding a guitar, Wayne seemed a bit standoffish and low-energy for the first few songs.

As it turns out, it was a major fakeout.

"You look fucking amazing," Wayne told the crowd as he began to engage with the Phoenix audience. "I wish you had my view.

"Before I can start, I must tell you three important things about myself," he continued. "Number one is, I know we all ain't shit without each other, you dig? Number two is, I know that I ain't shit without you, you dig? Number three is a very important one. If you don't remember shit about tonight, remember number three. Number three is I ain't shit without you."

Then Dwayne Carter was off to the races, putting on a raucous, high-energy show punctuated by fireballs galore, bold graphics and onstage guests.

Wayne gave plenty to all his fans, from the "day one" people who have followed the artist for decades to the radio folks who cheered for smash hits like "Love Me," "HYFR" (the Drake song that Wayne featured on) and show closer "A Milli."

A gentle criticism of an artist I have a great deal of respect for: Wayne, drop the guitar. We appreciate the effort, but your lyrical talent, stage presence and charisma far outstrip your guitar skills. You do look cool with an axe, though.

Though I don't love the CliffsNotes trend of abbreviating songs at live shows, it did give the fans almost four dozen Lil Wayne bangers to enjoy, and it's a testament to his body of work that I wanted more time with each track, not less. But maybe that's just me.

But ultimately, I believe the measure of a concert is how happy the fans are. And the fans were plenty happy.

More photos from the show: