Where was Mr. Pain? Most fans didn't seem to have any clue, and information regarding his absence was hard to come by; a quick scan of Web news channels and T-Pain's own site, after the show, produced nothing of use. What I was told by a friendly guy working at the venue box office was that T-Pain (the rapper born Faheem Rasheed Najm) had to cancel his performance because he had been hurt in a golf-cart accident.

If you needed any more proof that hip-hop has changed over the years, there you have it. In the old days, rappers were injured in turf wars and gang-related incidents. In 2009, one of the biggest rappers in the world, a guy who is a finalist to make Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009 list, is hurt while golfing. How's that for keeping it real? Word.

T-Pain's unscheduled absence was only the most glaring reason why this San Jose date didn't live up to the tour stop in nearby Oakland, CA, which this critic and some 16,000 fans saw back in December. This go-around, Bay Area fans also didn't get to see fine R&B crooner Keyshia Cole, who isn't on this leg of the tour, and witnessed a drastically downsized version of Lil Wayne's once-elaborate stage show.

It's hard to understand what happened. It's like a couple of tour buses took the wrong turn between San Antonio, TX (the previous concert stop) and San Jose. That would explain why Lil Wayne's cool stage apparatus, which included platforms that would suspend band members in mid-air, never made it to HP.

Otherwise, Lil Wayne, one of the most charismatic players on the hip-hop scene, did a fine job with his set. The star (born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.) showed a great deal of stage presence as he rapped his way through selections from his "Tha Carter" releases.

After opening the show with a rollicking take on "Mr. Carter," Lil Wayne, dressed in a white T-shirt, red sneakers and baggy dark pants, took time to connect with the crowd. He told his fans the three things that he believes in:

"The first is I believe in God," he said. "The second is I ain't [expletive] without you.

"And the third is I ain't [same expletive] without you."

It was nice of him to turn the focus toward the paying customer for that brief moment, because the rest of the show was all about him.

"I am the best rapper alive," he bellowed a few moments later.

That statement is up for debate. Another candidate for that trophy is T-Pain. The chance to see the two of them perform on the same bill was what made this "I Am Music Tour" really worth the money.

Unfortunately, it's probably too late for those who attended the San Jose show to get their money back. Fans could be heard talking about wanting refunds while inside the venue, and I don't blame them.