Last night I finally got the opportunity to check out Kanye West’s highly anticipated “Glow In the Dark Tour”. Everybody on the site knows how much I loooove Kanye West, so you can imagine my excitement. Anyway…the concert was held at the newly opened Nokia Theater in Downtown LA (which is the best arena venue now) and there were thousands of die hard fans. I got there just in time to miss Lupe Fiasco…so I was pleased about that. I chose to get a margarita (which was fab) instead of catching the final few songs of his act.
After Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. performed and they were absolutely amazing! I’ve always liked them from back in their “Lapdance” days…but I couldn’t have guessed that their show would be so energetic, fun, and bad a$$. Shayne got much more shine in the concert than he usually does in their music videos which tend to focus on Pharrell, but they both did a great job of keeping the crowd entertained and on their feet. Now I’m looking forward to their new album and I had a great time rocking out to their new(-ish) track “Everyone Nose” (Click here to listen). N.E.R.D. was an excellent choice for the tour lineup.
Rihanna was next to hit the stage. I’ve never heard any of Rihanna’s albums and she has always been pretty lackluster in her tv performances…so I was interested to see if she could hold her own in such a huge venue. This may shock you but…I officially have to take back every negative word I’ve ever said about her lacking talent. She was stellar! She has a beautiful voice and she killed it on every single song. She also looked like a Black Barbie doll on stage which I thought was pretty cute. Her outfits look a lot trashier in the pictures than they do in person at the concert…so I think she catches some unfair flack about her costume choices. Anyway…Rihanna proved that she has stage presence, star power, confidence, charisma, and a wonderful voice and she has officially converted me to a fan. Now I see why she was chosen to “co-star” in the tour…she definitely kept the Pop/R&B/Rocker bad assness going and more than held her own.
After Rihanna hit the stage it was getting late and truthfully I was starting to get tired as hell. However, knowing that Kanye was the next person to come out, the energy in the place was crazy. People were yelling at any little inkling that the show was about to start and after several false alarms…Kanye finally hit the stage at about 11PM.
Here is the thing that I loved, loved, loved about the show…this was BIGGER than a concert…it was like a super high tech production. The set, the plot, the whole setup made you feel like you were in a movie waiting to see how things would unfold. He really took the concert experience to an entirely different level than anything I’ve ever seen before. I’ve been to some incredible concerts, but none where so much was invested in creating almost an alternate universe (please excuse my hyperbole lol). It’s totally amazing how he managed to bring so much drama to songs that we all know and love.
I won’t go into too many details in case you plan on checking out the show, because I haaate when people just give away all the juicy tidbits. Half the fun was trying to figure out what was coming next…so I will refrain from talking about what songs he performed (sidebar: the picture above is not the actual costume Kanye wore). Kanye was in top form and it was like he was the energizer bunny…he just kept going and going. With the show ending after midnight, there is no way anyone left the concert without a hoarse voice and not totally exhausted from jumping up and down and singing along all night. I’ve seen Kanye in concert 4 other times and this was by far his best show. Don’t waste your time hoping that Jay-Z, Common, John Legened, or any of his other superstar rap comrades are going to show up, because it is so not about that. His show isn’t about being the flashiest (with money, cars, or rapper friends)…it was about creating a musical dramatization and the crowd loved it. He put on an incredible show and concert experience…and he proved that Hip Hop can be art and that he is one of the most innovative (I would say THE most innovative) Hip Hop/Music stars.
So…if you get the chance to check out Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark tour, don’t pass up the opportunity! Even if you have to get nose bleed seats this is NOT a concert to be missed.
Have you checked out the tour? What did you think of the lineup? What other tours would you recommend people check out?
Posted by Reecie
Reecie
thehonorable
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