A slim silhouette appeared atop Kanye West’s behemoth onstage re-creation of the temple mount, as the instrumental to West’s iconic “Jesus Walks” began to hum in the background. Everyone in the audience knew what was coming next. The figure gingerly descending the mount turns out to be West’s version of Jesus, a reimagining similar to what anyone would think Jesus would look like: tall, thin, long dark willowy hair and an untrimmed beard. Yup, Kanye nailed it.
As the crowd tried to figure what to make of it all, the often outrageous, always brilliant West’s latest biblical stunt, “Jesus,” made his way down to where Kanye was kneeling, cradled over to the point where he nearly folded into himself. Jesus stood before Kanye and in that moment the spotlight dropped, the lights faded and the audience finally saw something that they had not seen up until this point: Kanye’s face.
West had been alternating between wearing a ruby-studded mask and another similar mask encrusted with diamonds and gold just to ensure that the level of bravado was up to snuff. This definitely added to the aura of mystique in the building and helped build energetic vibes during the show, the anticipation, the build up and finally Kanye kneeling before Jesus himself to take the mask off.
Yes, Kanye is irreverent; that fact has been well established by now. But call it what you will, brilliant or blasphemous, there is no doubt that Kanye West is an incredible performer. I witnessed it, and there are millions across the nation that can testify to this. As Kanye completes the remainder of his Yeezus tour, little will be left to question. Yes, Kanye is a megalomaniac. Yes, many of his ideas are farfetched, and no, I would not buy a pair of his leather jogging pants, but as far as performance and music goes, there are few who can match him.
With his string of electrifying performances on his tour, Kanye is reminding people why they loved him so much in the first place. I had the privilege of seeing him up close in Washington, DC at the Verizon Center, and I can confidently say that I left the show feeling like I got my money’s worth.
Kendrick Lamar, recently voted GQ‘s Rapper of the Year, opened for Kanye. Yeah, that should give you an idea of how big of deal this guy is. Kendrick was on for about 45 minutes, and he did a great job, performing some of his hits like “Money Trees” while sprinkling in some of his lesser-known rhymes. However, this was undoubtedly Kanye’s night.
After Kendrick left the stage Kanye’s mountain was resurrected on the back end of the stage and Kanye’s dancers came out to the instrumental of “On Sight.” The crowd gasped in amazement as West appeared in between his dancers, donning a mask as he began rapping the album intro. The energy coursing through the arena when West came on was palpable, and it only intensified as the concert continued.
West performed a few select hits but primarily chose to showcase his latest project Yeezus throughout the night. The sets, lights, fireworks and confetti all enhanced West’s performance significantly; the man is a master at building up hype and knows exactly when and how to drop each song. The concert had everything: great music, attractive dancers, the Kanyeti (a shadowy red eyed “yeti”-like figure that appears on much of the album’s artwork) and even a good ol’ fashioned Kanye rant. Kanye implored the audience to hear him out for 30 seconds and used that as an opportunity to express his frustrations with being a black, straight, male celebrity trying to break into the world of fashion.
This tirade lasted around 10 minutes with Kanye drawing comparisons of himself to Walt Disney, Steve Jobs and pretty much every other figure of note throughout history. This got a little bit much for some (if the Jesus stunt wasn’t already), but you have to hand it to him, Kanye knows how to entertain.
The show was an extravaganza of lights, colors, yetis and, most importantly, great music. As he mentioned several times throughout the show, Kanye does not care what the record labels or the media think, he only cares about us, the fans. Kanye proved this sentiment true through his performance.
Despite pulling radical stunts, drawing absurd comparisons and making reckless assertions, the man puts on one hell of a show.
