By Cameron Frye
Staff Writer
The artistic talent of Kanye West returned this fall, entertaining the crowd of fans who attended his new tour. Kanye West performed at the Staples Center for his ongoing “Yeezus Tour,” which corresponds with his recently released album of the same name and focused on a more religious theme.
Kanye West’s performance was nothing but fantastic, as he lit up the stage and unveiled his interesting choice of entertainment. This consisted of women in body suits, a mountain with light shows, and a mysterious monster character creeping around the stage as Kanye sang. There were, however, some artistic choices made during his performance that proved a little overbearing.
For the majority of the tour which lasts from October 19 to December 7, the talented Kendrick Lamar serves as the opener. Lamar played many of his hit songs from his recent album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City,” for about an hour to prepare the audience for Kanye’s arrival. Lamar was an impressive opening for Kanye as his rapping brought out the energy of the cheering crowd.
When Kanye did appear on stage, he pleased the crowd by first performing some of his hit songs from his new album, “Yeezus,” followed by many of his other famous songs from his albums such as “The College Dropout,” “Graduation,” “808’s and Heartbreaks,” and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” He even decided to play some of the songs from his collaborative work featured in the albums, “Cruel Summer,” and “Watch the Throne.”
One thing that Kanye did well was that he kept the audience intrigued as he changed up the artistic flow of the concert. He would constantly change outfits, have different background performers correspond with his songs, and dance to his music in ways that would reflect the different tones and themes to his music to please the crowd.
The show was also a great success for its background setting, as there was a giant “mountain” always behind Kanye that had its own lighting effects and even split in two. The stage was also used by the performers in the background including a strange beast that would crawl around the mountain when Kanye sang.
However, there were some things about the concert that could have been left out. For instance, Kanye took ten extra minutes to sing his song, “Runaway,” so he could talk to God and brag about how he was “chosen.” The whole thing was perceived by the crowd as distasteful as the crowd would actually start sitting down until he finished.
Kanye’s decision to change his outfit frequently was a very interesting one, but there was one point where it seemed more comical than artsy. About two-thirds into the show, West came onto the stage wearing a big, dark robe and a mask made of cloth that made him look like a jokingly fashionable ghost. This made it a little hard to take him seriously when he would sing his more meaningful songs like “Blood on the Leaves” and “Lost in the World.”
Despite some questionable, overly eclectic and religious elements made by West, the concert proved to be enjoyable and a good time for anyone who attended. Kanye West may be an egotistical maniac but he is a great entertainer.
Kanye West performed on October 28 and is currently still performing nationwide for his “Yeezus Tour,” while all of his previous albums are available for digital download.
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