Kanye West Concert

Tonight I went to see Kanye West perform at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. The concert was more of a private concert since tickets were only sold to American Express cardholders, but thanks to Craigslist, I got tickets for the show and Kyle and I went.

Nokia Theatre is a cool location for a concert because it is small, which means you can get really close to the stage. I'd describe it more of a lounge/club setting than a straight concert venue. The crowd was not what I had expected. I've been to a lot of hip hop/rap concerts so I kind of have certain expectations on what to expect from the crowd. I wasn't expecting the same crowd as at the Wu-Tang concert, but the crowd at the Kanye concert was odd. It reminded me of Williams with most people looking like i-bankers and paralegals. A lot of people looked like they had come straight from work (this was at 11 PM). I guess this should have been expected from a show sponsored exclusively for American Express cardholders. (American Express is not exactly the poor-man's credit card.) To add to the Williams feel, Kyle and I ran into at least 10 people at the concert that we knew from Williams.

DJ AM spinning pre-show

DJ AM was warming up the crowd when we arrived. He was good, but no one really cared and he seemed to realize that and reciprocated with an equally disinterested attitude. I'm sure he's used to this type of crowd since he was a DJ-in-residence in the Hamptons this summer. After he finished his set, everyone assumed the concert would start. It didn't. It took so long that people actually started booing. Eventually, DJ Enuff from Hot 97 came on stage to introduce Kanye. He was so drunk, which he admitted, that they had given him a hastily scrawled piece of paper with what he was supposed to say.

Kanye hits the stage

Then Kanye hit the stage. Incredible. He brought so much energy to the stage and looked like he was genuinely excited to be there. He ran through a bunch of hits, backed by DJ A-Trak and some backup singers, a harp, and a string quartet. Then he brought John Legend on stage to perform "Ordinary People." I'll admit that I wasn't exactly psyched to see John Legend since he has a much more down-tempo vibe, but he was pretty good and his voice translates well to a live setting.

John Legend performs "Ordinary People"

Then the place went crazy because Common hit the stage (an unscheduled guest). He ran through a bunch of hits including "Go" and "The Light." Then he performed some stuff with Kanye and John Legend.

Common performs "The Light"

John Legend, Common, and Kanye perform

After that, I was pretty satisfied, but Kanye continued to perform some more of his hits and then the biggest guest of the night hit the stage, Pharrell. People went crazy. I like Pharrell as a producer, but a lot of his solo stuff is absolute trash. I'll give him credit, though; he sounds so much better when performing live. He ran through some of his new stuff with Kanye acting as hypeman. Then they performed "Number 1." At this point, Kanye was acting kind of funny. He actually seemed a little coked-out as both Kyle and I noted. And Pharrell, well Pharrell was eye-fucking the shit out of the girl in front of me. It was pretty hilarious because he kept staring at her when he sang and even mouthed some things to her. She was completely embarrassed.

Pharrell performs "Can I Have It Like That?"

Pharrell and Kanye perform (bad sound quality so turn the volume down)

Then they ended the concert, gave a spiel about how great American Express was, and left. Overall, a great concert though I could have done without the American Express "promos."