Despite the N.Y. State of Mind tour being named after one of his songs, you’d have been forgiven not knowing Nas was due to take the stage at the Glasgow show. The wee guys were trying hard to bring back Wu Wear, while the rap dads showed up kitted out in MF DOOM shirts and a sense of despair. The guy directly behind me muttered Nas’ name to himself every time the crowd screamed for the Wu. His lack of volume meant even I could barely hear him but it spoke clearly all the same: this was a Wu-Tang crowd and everybody knew it.

Nas’ sets went over well on the night though. Tracks from Illmatic were greeted with wild applause that quickly settled down into vaped appreciation. Songs from his more recent Kings Disease and Magic records dissolved straight into the haze, with only the occasional lyric – “We goin’ on thirty summers!” – finding its way into the mouths of the dads in the room.

All of this is fine, appropriate even. Nas’ performance was pure vocal authority, with few breaks finding their way into his carefully wound crime schemes. With only one mic, one drummer and DJ Green Lantern to handle, the mix was better on his half of the show than the Wu’s. Guest spots from Ghost and Raekwon tied the whole night together, and the contrast in style made both Nas’ clear line sketches and Wu expressionism sing louder. It was all beyond impressive. It just didn’t give the wee guys as much to go daft about.

In this arena-sized context, Nas’ cornier material played best. Widescreen crucifixion fantasies like ‘Hate Me Now’ and ‘If I Ruled The World’ allowed wee guys and rap dads alike to imagine themselves on stage. Switching a “Hey Nas” chant to “Brave-hearts” is undeniably goofy, but it worked up a home crowd atmosphere. The Sopranos interpolation of ‘Got Ur Self a Gun’ let everyone dream of being Fat Tony.

In these less graceful moments, the fantasy of being an all-time rapper seemed more achievable. The dream of power and consequence was right there in front of us. All we had to do was accept the crown and not worry about the thorns.