week in review a week late

I would do much better in the era of the pony express...

these are my thoughts the week before the elction,,,,

I went to the Kanye West concert on Monday night. It was the first international act to come to China since the Olympics, or maybe just the first one that I was interested in.
Adrock does not like Celine Dion.
The concert dates actually got pushed back several times in the last few months, but it did finally happen. Previously acts like Jay-Z and more recently Nas were rumored ,
and for Nas tickets even sold, but then the Chinese government revoked their visas and they fell through.
So I was happy to see Kanye. It was much better than my usual Monday night. I love hearing live music and Kanye , as much as I think his ego is too big, does have a couple good songs and the places he is taking a lot more chances with hip hop than anyone else is these days.
I left the show feeling slightly disappointed though. I’m going back and forth over whether this was Kanye’s fault or not.

I love seeing live music because I feel like I am a part of the music being created that there is a give and take between the performer and the audience. That the performers respond to the crowd’s energy and visa versa.. I didn’t get that feeling from Kanye. Sure he was spinnin around happily as if he had already found out that his hometown boy already won the election (I’m assuming he voted for Obama, though with the money he makes maybe he doesn’t like his tax cuts) and yes, he was working both sides of the crowd, but it felt like he was going through the motions . That it was the machinations of a staged professional. .
The other fun of going to a concert is feeling like you paid to see something that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. The way this is accomplished in hip-hop is by free-styling, audience call and response, or by the DJ extending his breaks. Save a few moments of call and response. There was no feeling that this concert was different from one he would play anywhere in the world, but actually gave me the feeling it was worse.
I understood this to be a continuation of a tour that he did this summer at bonarroo, made famous for his not coming out because of technical difficulties with the computer screens and animation for the show. Causing delays until 4 in the morning and the drugged out audience to start throwing beer on stage. But there were no electronic videos or other special productions, for a billed “Glow in the Dark Tour”, the lighting was that of a no-name band playing a club. merely stage lights that changed colors, which weren’t even neon.


I don’t know if this was a result of Kanye not carrying enough to make the show special because of a lack of audience, or a result of the Chinese government which requires the act to submit every word of the songs that they will sing in order to give out a visa, because fucking Bjork has to come and start chanting “Free Tibet” during her concert.
The result was that every song or medley he went through seemed to be lack improvisation and feel like a retread of his practicing five years ago for a music video.

There were two moments that felt like they weren’t just taken from the album. One didn’t even invlovle Kanye, when his band starting playing :Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey to which the expat crowd enjoyed singing. The other involved him featuring a asian singer named Vaness Blu during “Touch the Sky” (though Vaness might benefit from a name change)
As I said some of this was not Kanye’s fault. My seats weren’t that great and when my friends and I moved down another section we all felt that the concert improved. Personally I think a smaller venue would have been better suited for the concert, but a smaller venue doesn’t really exist in Shanghai, especially if promoters are going to make money on bringing Kanye into the country, though my friends and I thought charging one ticket price and letting everyone on the floor, might have solved the problem. I also doubt promoters were looking to book another plane for all stage equipment when just beinging him over would allow them to make money.
Kanye and his ego no doubt recognized the myriad of empty seats or perhaps he expected it. Because in a way it felt like he was coming to China to say that he did and not to really impress anyone.
My own expectations of a light show of a light show and freestyles from a “rapper” more famed for his work DJing, may have been too much to ask, but it was A nice change of pace for the nightlife of Shanghai and a chance to see an artist I probably woudn’t have been able to get tickets to in the States for his only performance in China.