First we have to say that the Glow in the Dark Tour is a concert by Kanye West that has a world acclaim and was initiated in April 16,2008.It was started at Seattle and is expected to spread to other places come December this year. In our analysis we will focus on the tour of 16 April. The tour featured Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D and Def Jam. The concert kicked off in Seattle on 16 April 2008 swinging through California, Sacrament, San Diego and San Joe (Kanye West/Rihanna/Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D). It then landed in Los Angeles, 21 April and making subsequent landings in Atlanta, North Carolina and Charlotte in 1 May. On the 13 of May it made stops at the Madison Square Garden.Kanye West performed at his hometown on 23 May at the United Center.Rihanna missed out on three performances from 24th to 26th.Kanye opened the performances with ‘Stronger’ then’ Hey Mama’. This performance was to serve as foretaste for his Glow in the Dark Tour which produced triumphant lope overseas.
The concert had been scheduled for 2.45 am but was rescheduled to 8.00 pm which marked the first to beheld late night show.The show was marked by a delay from the man the crowd came to hear from-Kanye West which made the crowd grow impatience and send chanting sounds of ‘Kanye Sucks’ only to be quieted by Kanye’s hasty appearance on stage. He explained the cause of the delay that it wasn’t his mistake but that of the organizers who did not realize that the glow in the darkness show required darkness and that the organizers had failed to set up the screen properly.
He was featured in a blinking LED coat and light-up sunglasses with neon lights flashing the entire stage. This was a performance based on tracks that were prerecorded so that West maintained a flow with the audience. The accompaniment was a live band that performed below the dias.He performed an array of favorite tracks from his rich collection (Kanye West/Rihanna/Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D). The stage with mounted small and big screens reflected the the scenes of the performance which secured their boundaries on the floor of the stage. He first used his famous songs like ‘Through the wire’, ‘Can’t tell me nothing’ and ‘Stronger’ by first narrating the journey he had on a space ship and its subsequent crashing thereby having a dramatic escape. He pronounced himself as someone, an astronaut who was on the mission of bringing creativity to the earth. He gave an explanation of how got lost in space and his marooning while on the mission. He further explained that his only companion was Jane, the spaceship and that it was his last mission. The ship had a computerized foil that alerted him of the damage that had occurred-they had landed on unknown planet. He narrated of being alarmed to wake up by the same foil. The spaceship also reminded him of his flashbacks that the crash wasn’t the first he had. His performance was done on a platform slanting at some angle not greater than 30 degrees facing a large screen. A true crutch of the evening features an inanimate feminine martian that dropped in on some wires at a single point. It looked like a masculinity doll with a blue anime toupee.
He used the songs such as ‘through the wire ‘to bring a narration of his journey in the space ship and his encounter with self- actualization and the final escape.
His real message was conveyed by the tantalizing images that customized the stage floor; they became unstoppable creating a galvanized and innovative experience (Kanye West’s ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour comes to the UK!).
The show brought out the imaginistic elements and not he literally aspects of the musician together with his conceptual aspects including sound and visualization. West in his show brings out an imagination not how story unfolds of a hero but what the hero should quote in any case he is expected to rap and how he appears on stage.
This performance pointed that West prefers performance as his key choices as far as the concerts are concerned. His rapping was on patronage tracks dwelling on his independence, uniqueness and spectacular presentation without the company of a crew. This hinted the new method of attaining the hip-hop star title that performs independent of a shielding community. This show acted as a solution problems noted from his earlier performances therefore gave Kanye an excitement past what he supposed could be produced by his own voice and even movements thus creating a unique environment in which he played against. The images scattered by the screens acted as reinforcement to his isolation, images varied in sizes at specific instances from small, medium to large. As he explored the hero’s role he focusssed on the agonizing aspect of the hero.As he roamed on the slanting proscenium featuring wild skies ,asteroids and swirling clouds he acted as the bleak son struck by destiny who seems unable of breaking through and connecting with his colleagues. The only unpleasant part of the show was the rapping that went continuous for an hour without taking a break, only to cause voice slowdowns with the line “Hey mama” which served as a dedication to his deceased mother. The song recaptured painful memories to West such that he engulfed his head within his hands for a while, nearing the tear-dropping stage. He otherwise maintained focused concentration doing such favorite tracks as “Jesus walks,’ ‘Touch the sky’ in the absence of breaks, sessions to flirt the audience and even gulping breath. Kanye’s lyrics proved intellectual and light-toned but at the same time they presented his lonely self- created planet from his perspective. He proved that he had a world- seeking reinspiration and stated his goal in the form of humorous-book fantasy. It was now the turn of Lupe Fiasco who ushered the evening with cool collections featuring backup singers of the red-clad as they took numerous urbane turns by the singer, Michael Santos (Kanye West’s ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour comes to the UK!). Screams of ‘Lupe’ rented the air when the Chicago-based rapper unleashed his tales. A starling performance by the band, N.E.R.D turned the show colourful.The band features Neptune-based producers, Pharrel, Hugo and Shay Harley who played rap-infused rock coupled with heart-throbbing lyrics and impeccable beats. Two drummers pushed the rut forward making N.E.R.D prove musically alluring (Two-month jaunt). The star behind the band’s performance is Pharrel who mainly dwells on charisma but proves a weak vocalist. Rihanna’s turn struck a match and lit the tinder of starling performance. Her vocalist ability proved worth it as she captured her footing in the vast arena. During her performance the bass received a distortion shaking the floor, with the crowd chanting slogans’Perfetc! Perfect!’. With a series of performances from her repertoire the crowd responded in unison with Rihannna struggling to remain in tune and focused in the large arena (Two-month jaunt). The show manifested her impressive talent that moved the audience without forcibly bringing it out. The yelling from the crowd caused a distraction to Rihanna’s stylistic dance moves and also of her troupe who wore bright tendered wave costumes. She however maintained coherence with the crowd both vocally and dynamically.
References
- Kanye West/Rihanna/Lupe Fiacso, N.E.R.D.—first night of the Glow In The Dark tour, Key Arena, Seattle, WA.
- Kanye West’s ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour comes to the UK! Two-month jaunt, featuring Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D., launches. Web.