If Kanye West isn't the hottest act in hip hop right now, I'd like to know who is. Kanye rocked the house at Chicago's United Center late last month and put on a show that other performers, regardless of what genre of music it is, would envy. But what came before him was quite a spectacle as well. During the "Glow in the Dark Tour" each act had something for everyone in what was a diverse crowd of age, race and gender. Accompanying Kanye on tour was Chicago's own budding sensation Lupe Fiasco, rock/rap envelope pushers N.E.R.D. and pop princess Rihanna.
The evening kicked off right on time (how often does that happen?) with Lupe, who had the least production happening, backed by only a D.J. Still, anybody who follows him or has seen him knows he wouldn't disappoint. His set was surprisingly short but he had everyone vibing with his first hit "Superstar" from his latest album entitled "The Cool." His only collaboration was with Pharrell on their skaters' anthem "Kick Push" but Lupe started the night off right.
Next to take the stage was the previously mentioned Pharrell-led N.E.R.D. who he comprises along with longtime partner Chad Hugo and their childhood friend Shay Haley. They're probably the least known act of the tour, but their energy, passion and audience interaction was off the charts. Things really took when they rocked out their new single "Everyone Nose" and had fans going wild! They brought fans from all over the arena on stage to jam with the band and even had their two drummers go back and forth in a bad ass battle of drum solos.
Next to Kanye, N.E.R.D was easily the best performance of the night. Rhianna was the single woman on the tour but she made all the ladies in the crow extremely happy with her snazzy outfits and catchy pop tunes. She sizzled with hits "Umbrella" and kept the tempo and energy up throughout her set.
Which bring us to the main attraction, Mr. West himself. His performance is a huge production, but you wouldn't really expect anything less from a guy of his stature and magnitude. His entire performance is solo and not one other person steps foot on stage with him until Lupe comes on for "Touch the Sky" during the encore.
Truth be told, his set seemed more like a Broadway musical than it did concert in terms of production and stage sets. His music and rhymes were complete with a computerized voice to accompany his rapping and dancing in front of a giant LED screen full of star fields and space aged landscapes.
The whole show starts off with Kanye explaining how he is lost in space while he was on a mission to search for creativity in the universe. "My only companion is my spaceship, Jane, and this is our last mission," he said. "Our system has encountered a meteor shower," Jane responds back in a sexy and robotic and computerized voice. West collapses only to arise from calls of "Wake up, Mr. West! We have crash landed on an unknown planet."
And the concert begins as he goes through his set list on platform slanted at about a 30-degree angle in front of the giant screen that transforms into an orbit skyline, a desert, a volcanic inferno and continuously changes. Among the better songs he performs are "Stronger" and "Good Life," But no doubt, the most memorable part of the evening is when Kanye drops to one knee and performs "Mama" and song written for his mother who has recently passed away. Genuinely saddened while singing and talking to his mother above, he had everyone in the crowd quiet and tearful.
Overall, he was on stage for about 90 minutes and he never failed to pour every ounce of energy and emotion into his performance. If you didn't have the opportunity to see the show, you'll need to go out and buy the DVD of the tour that's scheduled to be released upon completion of the tour and see how bright one can really glow.
