Kanye West

Peter and I decided to spend a relaxing Saturday evening in Los Angeles being yelled at by a black guy for two hours. No different than what happened on the way to the show (we considered that incident as the warm up act).
In Vancouver I get strange looks for being a punk rocker at shows outside my socially assumed genre. Tonight nobody gave a fuck that I looked alternative and treatment me like one of their own. In conversation with Kendrick Lamar last year we both mutually concluded that there is no real difference outside the beats between punk rockers and rap fans, we’re all politically angry.
I believe Kanye has the same mental wiring as Axl Rose but as an artist he’s a genius. His samples from the punk and metal genre go under the radar of most. His beats are constructed in such a way that they could be considered miles outside the box.
I was underwhelmed by the Coachella performance, therefore, lowered my standards initially. Tonight I was beyond blown away.
The show was a running deep theme wasted on 80% of the audience. People couldn’t shut up for an hour during a career defining moment in a gig exclusive to Los Angeles. The majority of the audience had no idea what they saw tonight as it went beyond their cultural IQ.
Kanye played the entire 808 Heartbreak album in full. It was a tight hour exactly. Short and effective that made more of a lasting impression than a padded 90 minute set. It was one of those quality vs. quantity situations. There was no stage banter which played heavily in his favor which kept the theme focused.
The stage dec was simple yet effective with most of the weight being carried by the storytelling sentiments of an experimental album that initially was shunned by the genre.
College Dropout was an album that he did for the label and 808 Heartbreak was an album that he did for himself knowing that it may sink or swim. He had balls that you don’t see in the genre. He tastefully and intellectually combined four genres: Rap, electronic industrial, classical and jazz.
He had a full band, choir and half an orchestra backing him. A few of the given electronic samples were pre recorded, however, a good portion was live for the audience to appreciate the amazing acoustics of the venue. What other rapper would be confident enough to have ballet dancers as both art and irony?
Kayne was really into the performance. I’ve never seen him that into a performance before. During the final bow he flashed an amazing smile. It looked good on him. He should consider wearing it more often.