So Tim calls me on Wednesday night, and offers me a few (.. more than just a few) Golden Circle tickets to see Kanye West on Friday night. So after a SMS and email frenzy, I secured a number of tickets (although some people were left disappointed), and we were off to see the concert.
To be honest, I am not a great fan of hip hop - I like a few acts, but I am more of a rock fan than a hip hop fan. Admittedly, Kanye West is not the average hip hop star - more known as a producer than a singer, and even his show featured very little bling and had a very low stage presence.
Even before we got to the show, there was drama, but I think it's only fair for Sara to speak about it (if at all). The opening act was Lungelo, and although he was impressive, I cannot really say that he,, and his group, were impressive, I am not sure they were better than acts like Tumi and the Volume or Skwatta Kamp. It was a very energetic stage show though.
There was a long wait till the next act, which made many in the crowd quite impatient. As for the main show it self - I can say that there were a lot more screaming fans than at a rock concert, but Kanye West himself did not have a stage presence. What his show did have was some sort of a story, not a great one, but he did manage to string together his experiences as a producer with his own stuff in some type of logical order.
The really interesting feature of the show was the String Band composed of a harp, two cellos, a violin and 3 violas (i think ... maybe it was 4 violins). Sara claims that the cellists were a bit off tune - can't really say - I couldn't really notice the difference. The backing vocals were quite good (and some might say better than the main vocals) but what really stole the show was the DJ - he was brilliant.
Overall, I don't think I would have really paid to watch Kanye West - but I did enjoy the show. So thanks Tim for the tickets!
