Kanye West keeps Chicago glowing (5/23)
Tonight, Kanye West returned home to Chicago, rolling out his glow in the dark fiesta at the United Center, which included the likes of Rihanna, N.E.R.D, and Lupe Fiasco. Deeply rooted in science fiction nostalgia, West has proven once again that he at least matches his ego in performance and musicianship. In other words, this tour is a fucking blast.
Following his kick in the head performance at this year’s Grammy’s, it was clear that West was devising something out of this world for his current stage act. When plans for a tour were released, through a stylish and very slick poster that read “The Glow in the Dark Tour” (seen to your right), everyone who happened to witness his network spectacle thought about seeing that magic live. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but Kanye West just might be the most important black entertainer in the past twenty years.
I’m getting ahead of myself again…
Tonight started with the “other” Chicago native, Lupe Fiasco. It’s unfortunate that Lupe had to open the event, only because his energy remained unmatched by the abysmal N.E.R.D and the mildly predictable Rihanna. Although the crowd would probably disagree (grown men were dancing to “Umbrella”), Lupe ignited the United Center in a way that would probably make West a bit jealous. Holding his framed gold record (an act that would be career suicide in any other genre of music), Lupe slaughtered the thirty minutes given to him, churning out singles “Superstar” and “Paris, Tokyo”, while sharing his time with another budding artist, the young and fragile He Say, She Say. His stage set up was the more modest of the four, with a slick black backdrop, a beat maker, and a fog machine, borrowing much from the ol’ 80’s hip hop videos.
N.E.R.D swept through with some ol’ hits and some new misses. Pharrell, rather obnoxiously, tried to rile up the crowd, asking at least thirty times for patrons to “raise their hands” or “sway back and forth.” Let’s put it this way, its never a good thing when your drummer’s two minute solos outshine your entire act. To be blunt, Pharrell is surely becoming the Jimmy Buffett of hip-hop, though he’s still too unsure whether or not he wants to rock or jam. Rihanna, on the other hand, took advantage of the stage props. Much of her time onstage was devoted to covering other artist’s material, everything from M.I.A. to Lauryn Hill. Is it too much to label her a one hit wonder? Especially when one of her former singles borrows from Michael Jackson, as well? Maybe so. Actually, to be fair, the girl can sing and fans were behind her all the way.
Not until after ten o’ clock did the main event occur. Concealed by a black curtain, roadies scrambled with several stage pieces, all of which would make up one magnificent “space” set. When the lights fell, that familiar Daft Punk song kicked in, with three gigantic screens sending the audience through the universe. Things grew quiet, a robotic voice kicked in, and the relaxed beginnings of “Good Morning” rolled on. Within seconds, Kanye West stood up, atop a bright neon color stage, and watched his sold out audience, his hometown staring ahead with dazzling eyes. He had them.
Hits came one after another. Mostly culled from Graduation and Late
Registration, the set list followed a strict storyline that told of a lost space traveler, West, who crash landed on a strange and lone planet. While the songs aren’t strictly attended to this tale, the Grammy winning rapper does spin some rehearsed dialogue with his automated ship, aptly labeled “Jane.” It’s all tongue in cheek (let’s hope), but it does add some flavor to what would otherwise be a staple hip hop show.
Songs “Champion”, “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”, and “Gold Digger” had everyone’s hands up in the air, a sea of far reaching digits that all wanted the same thing: magic. However, it was the pastiche of color and drama in “Flashing Lights” and the gutsy glam of “Jesus Walks” that elevated West from typical to legendary. These weren’t songs but emotions captured on stage, which felt heightened by West’s grasp for the theatrics, as he pounded his fists in the floor, fell to his knees, and beat his chest in pain. Let’s not forget the tear jerker, “Hey Mama”, which again took on a whole other meaning at the Grammy’s.
By the time “Stronger” strolled around the corner to close the whole of the show (”Homecoming” and “Touch the Sky” were encores), one thing remained clear. This isn’t hip hop, anymore. It’s an event, in the same way that arena rock isn’t ordinary rock n’ roll. This is something that is elevated to epic proportions, shattering the studio releases in half, simply because that energy just isn’t there as it is on stage.
What’s troubling is that, despite all the glitz and the glamor, it’s really a one man show. Hell, West makes that certain when one shooting star (yes, a talking shooting star), in the best Bambi voice, inspires him and acknowledges that he is, “the greatest star in the universe.” It’s at that moment when one realizes that it’s a man and his many chips on the shoulder, parading a “space opera” on stage with the help of a faceless band. The fact that his band is hidden under the lip of the set, away from his spotlight, is a bit disconcerting. Does this man worry so much that he won’t be noticed?
Here’s some words of advice, Kanye. Relax and do you thing. If selling out the United Center, a feat reserved for the likes of Springsteen and Madonna, isn’t enough to condition your ego, then seek professional help. The world is obviously listening… you don’t need to remind us of “who you are” and “what you represent.” Those days are over, hence your Graduation.
Let’s hope all this glowing cools him off some.
Set List:
“Good Morning”
“I Wonder”
“Heard Em Say”
“Through The Wire”
“Champion”
“Get Em High”
“Diamonds From Sierra Leone”
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
“Flashing Lights”
“Spaceship”
“All Falls Down”
“Gold Digger”
“Good Life”
“Jesus Walks”
“Hey Mama”
“Stronger”
Encore:
“Homecoming”
“Touch The Sky”
*note: photos are stock/publicity.
Staci Static….you must have been high off someone’s weed, because kanYe was unbelievable. I was on the floor, and the sound was fine….the energy was amazing…the performance can’t be matched.
Hands down the best concert I’ve ever seen in my life.
I saw the show on Friday night in Chicago. I was wondering what the reviews from that night were because I was disappointed. I traveled from St. Louis to see ‘Ye kill his hometown and I was let down. Lupe was cool (I’m not a huge fan but I appreciate him. N.E.R.D had great energy and a cool set (I was surprisingly excited to see Chris Breezy come out there with them and kill that dance…that was hot!) and Rhianna seemed tired to me. She’s fly though…I won’t deny her that. About five songs into to Kanye’s set I turned to my guy and said “Why am I ready to go?” and he replied “Let’s go then.” The sound sucked. His stage set was amazing. I’ve NEVER seen anything like it (I’ve seen everyone from Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Prince, The Jacksons, and Michael Jackson in concert all in their hey day). It was all that everyone including Puffy in his youtube rant said it would be, but that horrible sound system and the theatrics had me racing back to my hotel room. I still love Kanye but I can do without seeing him perform live.
I see a lot of complaints about N.E.R.D. To me, they were nothing but noise… it’s confused music to me. Pharrell was also a bit irritating.
And I fixed it to He Say, She Say… Lupe’s set was excellent, but if you looked around, people poured in eventually. It took five to ten minutes but the arena was packed ten minutes into his set.
Anyhow, glad to see the comments. This is one hell of a tour.
Thank you Dre! I loved that song and couldn’t find anything on them except for that damn Ashely Tisdale!
DRE YOU ARE AWESOME!! THANKS For those of you wondering what I am talking about here you go.. check out their song http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=205041363
To the person who responded to my ? earlier….I don’t believe it was Sarah Green or Nikki Jean, not sure if anyone remembers but either before Lupe started or after he finished, a DJ with a tux on and a girl in front of him by the microphone got onstage and did a hip hop song that was actually kind of techno sounding. They called themselves “He said, She said” and jammed a bumping song out for a few mins. Sorry to focus on this, the whole show was amazing and I can find all the music except for this new duo performers. The author of this review writes about them briefly … “Lupe slaughtered the thirty minutes given to him, churning out singles “Superstar” and “Paris, Tokyo”, while sharing his time with another budding artist, the young and fragile He Said, She Said.” PLEASE HELP
i saw this show in tucson and nerd was out of control. i thought they were awesome. they got the crowd so pumped it was like a giant party. lupe was sick as expected, he definately deserves more stage time and i agree with jesse that kanye was overrated
The group’s name is “He Say, She Say”.
Their single is “Crash Dummie” and its on their myspace page. Great song if you ask me.
For real N.E.R.D. KILLED IT!! Your review didn’t do them justice, EVERYONE in the Arena was going crazy when they performed. Imagaine thousands of people screaming “All the girls waiting the line for the bathroom!” It was crazy. Pharell doesn’t have to decide and be tied to one genre, thats not what music is about. I wish Lupe didn’t have to go on first. Traffic was a bitch and we got in late and missed his first song ;-(
The rest of his set was hot though! Rhianna was…Rhianna. Her slow songs didn’t match this type of show. And Kanye is great at what he does but I did feel his performance was too rehearsed. It was missing that raw energy…and kind of long. But I know he was going for something diffrent to set him apart from everyone else in music, but that’s Kanye and thats why we love him! Diffrent stage set up, no dancers, It really was a one man show. (He should hire a choreographer though, his dancing was crazy)But he did give props to his band at the end and they did some really great solos. All in All it was a fantastic Tour!! One of a kind that I am so glad I didn’t miss.
I wish the crowd had been fuller for Lupe. He was sick and more people deserved to experience it. He’s a great preformer. I LOVED Pharrell and NERD. I thought they KILLED it. And Chris Brown on stage with them was cool too. I don’t know where you were sitting, but my entire section was going CRAZY during “Spaz.” I wasn’t a fan of Rihanna. I thought the time it took to set her stage up was way to long, and the dancers and lights were too much. It wasn’t her show. We were there for Kanye. And she did WAY too many slow songs. We were pumped up and wanted to dance! Not hear her cry about God knows what for 15 minutes. Rihanna is an incredibly talented artist, but I wish she had just come on with perhaps one or two dancers if she needed it, an outfit with MUCH less leather, and just sang her up-beat songs with as much energy as Lupe and N.E.R.D.
KanYe KILLED it. It was ridiculous. Maybe KanYe hid his band because it IS a one man show. KanYe is one of the greatest artists ever created. You never hear about his band. You never see his band. We were there to see the “greatest star in the universe,” not four guys playing the guitar and a drummer. And with such an elaborate set, who would want to see the band, anyway? And with a sold out set, KanYe might as well be the brightest star. He’s not being egotistic. He’s being what he is, the best.
in response to dave…
i think the girl you are talking about is sarah green and if not, then probably nikki jean.
great review
Trying to download that song from “He Said, She Said” THE GUY DJ AND GIRL SINGER that got on stage after Lupe Fiasco. Someone please help me find info on them I can’t find anything on google except Ashley Tisdale’s song he said she said (puke). Thanks in advance!
I saw this show yesterday adn I SWEAR i lost my mind for real. Lupe could have had more time on stage but NERD wasn’t so bad in some parts. KANYE is unreal!
I saw this in SD, and Rihanna SUCKED BALLS(maybe Jay’s nuts) and NERD killed, so did Lupe. Kanye West show was cool, but a bit overrated.
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