- Chantez et vous trouverez votre chanson -

Life isn't about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.
     -George Bernard Shaw

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves- in finding themselves.
      -Andre Gide

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Mr. West lands at the Garden


Kanye West. Rihanna. N.E.R.D. Lupe Fiasco. MSG. Stunna' shades. Glow in the Dark.

Yes, I was there, and it was A-MAZ-ING.  Jealous?  You should be.

Last night, on May 13, 2008, Kanye West's much anticipated Glow in the Dark Tour took over midtown.  By 6:30pm, the bars surrounding Penn Station were crammed with eager concert-goers sporting "Stronger" glasses and neon clothing.  By 8:30, they had packed out every tier of Madison Square Garden and were jumping to the sounds of N.E.R.D.

The concert lasted a little over 4 hours, but the flow of the concert was so fast paced, time flew. Arriving close to 8:30pm, I was amazed to realize I had already missed Lupe Fiasco.  All I'm going to say is...I really like Lupe and was not very happy to learn I had missed his performance.  

Turns out, in his true diva-like fashion, the 3 headlining acts were only to perform 1/2 hour sets to leave more time for Kanye.  And, you know what?  That's fine with me. Kanye, you are an amazing performer, you put on a great show, and I love you for all your "modest" ways, haha.

N.E.R.D. really got the crowd pumped up...I loved the designated "rockers" on stage, and Pharell busted out some fun dance moves (kind of like a cool Carlton dance).  They played their current single, "Everybody Nose" and older hit, "She Wants to Move" among others.

Rihanna had a great set.   The stage had jagged neon-lighted levels, and she first appeared in a black dress with a tulle skirt large enough to comfortably house multiple people.  She eventually rid of the heavy skirt and donned skin tight black leather leggings with a Madonna-esque (Read: cone boobs) red patent leather jacket.  I gotta hand it to her-- I would not look good in that.  Every song she played was great, although a friend pointed out that she did not sing "Shut Up and Drive."  I guess you can't fit 'em all in when you're only on stage for about a 1/2 hour.  Chris Brown also made an guest appearance for the "Cinderella" remix of "Umbrella."  All together now, 1, 2, 3 awwwwww.

Kanye was a-maz-ing, as previously stated.  His nearly 2 hour, uninterrupted set was a rock opera (or rap opera?) of sorts.  The plot: His space ship crashed landed on a planet with no creativity. Oh no!  As the set went on, he kept chatting with his robot spaceship, Jane and attempted to sing more and more powerful songs to bring creativity and boost the power of the spaceship to get back to Earth.  He opened with "Good Morning," worked through songs from all 3 albums and closed with "Homecoming."

Here's my sum-up.

Disappointments: 

- Missing Lupe.

- Not playing "The Glory."  I don't know if anyone else likes this song, but it's my fav from the new album.  I was really hoping he'd play it...it's my ringtone and all!

- I didn't glow.  The concert was called the "Glow in the Dark Tour."  We all wore bright and white clothes, and bought the white stunna' shades at the concert so we could glow properly.  I expected black lights or something all through the Garden, or something to that effect.  So, tell me Mr. West, why didn't we glow? 

My fav moments:

- "Hey Mama."  This song was a wonderful song before the tragic death of his mother earlier this year, and obviously now it means that much more to him.  Great song, great voice, just beautiful.

- "Jesus Walks."  Always been a favorite song of mine...it's just such a powerful and awesome-sounding chant.  It was very cool hearing it live.  It merited the obligatory phone call held out toward the stage to my brother who was (not very happy) sitting at home in Pittsburgh.

- "Stronger."  Obvi.

- "Gold-digger."  Almost 2 and 1/2 years later, this song is still so much fun.  I loves me some hilarious gold-digging bitches!

Sooo glad I was there.  This was a concert not to be missed.  Want more details on what you missed?  Check out this article on Billboard.com.

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