To those that weren’t lucky enough to have purchased tickets to see Kanye West during the recent leg of his Yeezus tour, you have one more chance as he comes to Hamilton in February. And you may have caught wind of a few of the controversial aspects of his performance.
Perhaps it’s the Jesus that takes stage near the end of the play that set the internet ablaze, or maybe it’s the lengthy rants that Kanye puts on for each city—I was astounded to find out they were actually part of the set list.
I had my own preconceptions heading into the show but when Kanye has a great catalogue, despite any possible theatrics involved, you keep an open mind.
The Yeezus set list is split into five sections to represent segments of the storyline: “Fighting,” “Rising,” “Falling,” “Searching,” and “Finding,” and each of these chapters reflects their titles well.
Songs performed during “Fighting” are tracks that reflect a sense of contention, either sonically like with “On Sight” and its mind-melting distorted baseline loop, or lyrically like with “New Slaves.”
The set itself is a masterpiece—the stage Kanye performs on is a triangular shape that bounces at the height of powerful songs like “Black Skinhead,” and transforms during “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” tilting upward so Kanye can perform at the hilt, making it look like he’s rapping at the top of a mountain, backed by—you guessed it—an enormous interactive mountain.
The show also involves a cast of characters, tied together through theatrical elements to create a sort of performance art that is more a play than a simple rap concert.
Lurking on the mountain is a devilish looking character with glowing red eyes only present during the more struggle driven segments.
Complementing this is an array of angelic female characters similar in appearance to the female companion from Kanye’s film Runaway, demonstrating what I imagine would be is Kanye’s sensitive side.
To give an anecdote from the performance that illustrates not only the quality of the performance, but the audience: During the chapter “Searching,” Kanye circles the keyboard to build suspense and finally hits that first piano note from his song “Runaway.”
It’s baffling, he only hits one note and the entire crowd goes absolutely nuts, prompting a chuckle in response. When he hit the note again, the crowd only went crazier. The kind of people who come to Yeezus are the kind of people you want to see it with.
And to close off the aforementioned chapter, Kanye goes on for a record long 27 minute rant which is both hilarious and interesting.
During the final chapter, the mountain that stays still most of the performance splits open, a bright light shines through it and Kanye kneels down before…Jesus.
It’s a statement he’s making here, and visually stunning one at that: God is the answer he’s searching for after the death of his mother and his crucifixion by the media, God is the resolution to this storyline.
It was during this last bit that the mood of the songs takes upward tone, and ends the concert on a high note. The show I saw closed with “Bound 2,” the predictable yet perfect closing anthem.
As a performance, Yeezus is a jarring new experience, and as a concert, it’s stellar.
As much as I wish I could have snagged a piece of mountain for memorabilia, the t-shirt will do. So when Kanye comes to Hamilton in February, make the mission. See it.
You’ll never forget it.
Moktar Nour
Contributor
