[Severian]

So... Kanye West. Caught him live. Been holding off on talking about it because I wanted to process the experience (it was a hell of an experience), but you know me... my misguidedly over-analytical thinking tends to get cyclical as hell, sometimes even preventing me from saying anything on the indented subject, as my head starts to putter and I lose interest in what I'm thinking about (see my never finished top 50 albums of 2014... and 2015 for that matter).

BUT... it was an extremely good show, and I have at least a few thoughts I can safely share.

• The crowd was unbelievable. It was so diverse.. MUCH moreso than I expected. There were a lot of college age kids, but also a huge number of 30- and 49-somethings. There were some "thug" types and some frat types, but there were also some obvious punk and goth types.
There was a very noticeable representation of queer culture. Boys and girls, young and not so young, holding hands openly, which my girlfriend and I both found very heartwarming. We were one of several "old" couples, and we sat between two other couples that were about our age. It was great! To see all these different people come together, black, white, gay, straight, Asian, Latino. And it was one of the most "cool" crowds I've ever seen at a big show. There were no fights, no overly zealous drunkards hollering insults at people, no bullying, no flaring tempers. Just a really positive group.

• Kanye was on a floating stage, but somehow it wasn't corny or cheesy. He steppped onto the thing and did the show almost completely by himself. There was some synth and guitar and DJ accompaniment from a soundstage, but really he was bearing the weight of the show. As far as I could tell, he stayed on that stage for an hour and a half before it dropped him right onto the floor.

• the visuals were AMAZING but very sparse and minimal. Lights lined the stage, and smoke was pumped out in varying amounts, making the color and atmosphere of the show change a bit from song to song. There were actually TWO floating stages. In addition to the one Ye Was on, there was a MUCH larger one. There were a couple short "breaks" during which the larger stage would shift and turn and slide apart, with some crazy 2001: A Space Odyssey - reminiscent ominous grace. Like leviathans, shifting and transforming with some REALLY heady synth music playing. It sounds over the top, but t was fucking extraordinary, and very tasteful.

- The stage pumped out orange light for most of the show, switching to grey/white for some songs like "Only one," and changing to a hellish red for MBDTF songs.
- FADE was one of the show-stoppers. That song has gained a lot of traction with fans since that video dropped, and it's finally getting recognition as more than just a short closing track, but an absolute masterwork of engineering, representing some of Kanye's most intense work to date.
When FADE played, just before the end, the lighting changed up completely and the place when BLACK. Then a line of red laser lights shot straight from the front of the arena to the back, and Kanye moved through them, just a shadow interrupting these blazing lights. It was really fucking something.

• It was LOUD. Some of the nuances of the music were a bit lost in the sheer volume of it all. Holy fuck but it was loud as hell.

• Highlights: "Runaway," "Blood on the Leaves," "Fade," "Ultralight Beam," "Stronger," "Heartless," "Famous," and "Father Stretch my hands" 1 and 2, which were the opening songs. He performed extended versions of both, and it was awesome. He played ALMOST everything I wanted him to play, but there was no "Robocop" or "Gone" and there was no "Real friends" or "Bound 2"... oh well.

We had great seats. Worth it.

I haven't been to a big concert like this in a long time, but it was definitely one of the best arena shows I've ever seen. Dog tired the next day. Getting a bit long in the tooth for late night drive, exhausting shows, and working the next morning. But I wouldn't have missed it.

More thoughts later perhaps, though I'm sure nobody cares.

Also - he was charming and coherent and said nothing crazy or offensive. That was cool.