While rock 'n roll fans are used to piling into arenas to see their favorite acts, in the world of hip-hop it's a rare occurrence. That's probably just the reason that the Anaheim Pond was such a mad house for Saturday night's stop on The Hard Knock Life Tour. Headlined by Jay-Z and DMX, with an opening set by Redman and Method Man, the nonstop rap assault was a genuinely fun and satisfying experience.

To see rap music live with the same production thrills of a major rock show, like pyrotechnics, professional lighting and surprise entrances is a real joy. When openers Meth and Redman flew high above the crowd for an encore of How High, Mission Impossible style, it was clear that this show would pull out all the stops. The sold out crowd was so appreciative, they remained standing most of the night.

The crowd was racially diverse and in fantastic spirits, despite the massive security presence at the show. While not intrusive, the security force seemed a potential drain on the supply of police and yellow-shirted concert security personnel from all of Southern California.

Seeing 15,000 other people all singing the same things (some of which didn't include profanity) at several points throughout the evening was spontaneously unifying and continuously enjoyable.

While the performers' sets stuck to their most popular material, it was welcome. Where else can rap fans actually hear the hits live that are played to death on radio every day? Just to witness Method Man perform All I Need live was in itself worth the price of admission.

After solid sets from Method Man & Redman and then DMX, Jay-Z took the stage to thunderous applause. His nearly 60-minute set was filled with hit after hit and special guests. For Money, Cash, Ho's Jay-Z stood on a 30 foot platform on the far end of the arena floor and ran through the entire crowd to join DMX on the main stage. Jay-Z was also joined by Jermaine Dupri on the show-stopping Money Ain't A Thing.

While The Hard Knock Life Tour isn't reinventing the wheel when it comes to musical creativity, it's helping to raise industry interest in similar tours by proving an arena-level rap package can be financially viable, crowd-pleasing and professionally implemented.

If more productions can be run this successfully and avoid the pitfalls of Ol' Dirty Bastard behavior, we can hopefully expect to see many more unique rap packages announce tours. After all, why shouldn't the fastest growing segment of music be able to hit the road in support of their product?