Barclays at 1: Music

James Keivom/New York Daily News

Jay-Z christens the Barclays Center during the first of his eight concerts in Brooklyn.

The first concert held at Barclays Center, one year ago next week, doubled as a dare.

When Jay-Z took the stage of the virgin arena, he offered the toughest possible test of its sonic chops. The density of the rapper’s verse, and the bass rumble of his rhythms, could fracture the fidelity of audio systems in the most sophisticated of venues. But, at this inaugural event, Jay’s words cut through, knife-clean, and his bass lines kept their crucial bounce.

As a result, fans got to bask in the crispest possible live experience of the rapper’s music, a feat in a venue of this size and construction. Small wonder so many stars have anointed Barclays as their prime New York-area concert stop.

In its first year, the new arena hosted over 55 concerts, with another 25 set before 2013 comes to a close. Following Jay’s 8-night run (drawing no fewer than 121,058 fans), the venue hosted a lineup coveted enough to including Barbra Streisand, Justin Bieber, The Who, Neil Young, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Green Day, and more.

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Barclays’ upcoming roster promises stars on the order of Pearl Jam, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and P!nk, along with Brooklyn-born talent Vampire Weekend and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Already the venue has Jay set for a return visit next year, on January 12th and 13th.

By the middle of 2013, the list of top names at Barclays helped it become the nation’s No. 1 concert venue, in both tickets sold and revenue generated (to the tune of $46.9 million).

Barclays ranked No. 2 in the entire world for gross ticket sales revenue, second only to the U.K.’s 02 Arena.

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More, the Barclays brand inspired the first-ever nationally-televised awards show to emanate from Brooklyn — the MTV Video Music Awards on August 25th. The much-talked-about show used the borough as its virtual co-star, snaking its stars through a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, and ending with a performance by Katy Perry under the real thing.