Thursday, July 31, 2008
HIp Hop's Answer to ET?
Kanye West at the Global Gathering, Long Marston Airfield, Stratford-upon-Avon
If Kanye West is not quite Götterdämmerung, then perhaps he's hip hop's answer to ET
David Sinclair
If Kanye West is not quite Götterdämmerung, then perhaps he's hip hop's answer to ET
David Sinclair
In America, Kanye West's Glow in the Dark tour has been one of the most talked-up spectacles of the year, with critics hailing it as “Kanye's Götterdämmerung” and an “awesome sci-fi themed hip hopera”. As darkness fell on the hottest day of the year, about 25,000 revellers at the eighth Global Gathering dance festival prepared to witness for the first time in Britain this wondrous event.
For whatever reason West had not brought the full production. True, there were enough lights to illuminate several nearby villages, and the stage was wreathed in smoke, but the promised full orchestra, dancers and “intergalactic special effects” failed to materialise. Apart from planting a carbon footprint of Godzilla-like proportions on the English countryside, the show displayed little in the way of theatrical or narrative invention.
What we did get was a performance of messianic fervour from West, a man who has turned the concept of self-belief into a personal religion. “Thank you for joining me tonight on my quest to become the number one artist in the world,” he said, before launching into the rap of Touch the Sky, a verbose barrage of wordplay on a typically aspirational theme. On a raised platform behind him a pair of percussionists flailed about on timpani and a pair of huge kodo drums, while a small group of musicians and singers managed to sound like an orchestral big band thanks to the skilful application of sampling and synthesiser technology.
Combining old hits such as Gold Digger and All Falls Down with material from his current album, Graduation, West paced the four corners of the stage in a ceaseless flurry of words and motion. Can't Tell Me Nothing, one of his most powerful declamations, found him dreaming that he could buy his way into heaven. By the end of the show it looked as if he was on his way, as he stood, arms raised, bathed in a dazzling beam of white light from behind. If not quite Götterdämmerung, then perhaps hip hop's answer to ET.
For whatever reason West had not brought the full production. True, there were enough lights to illuminate several nearby villages, and the stage was wreathed in smoke, but the promised full orchestra, dancers and “intergalactic special effects” failed to materialise. Apart from planting a carbon footprint of Godzilla-like proportions on the English countryside, the show displayed little in the way of theatrical or narrative invention.
What we did get was a performance of messianic fervour from West, a man who has turned the concept of self-belief into a personal religion. “Thank you for joining me tonight on my quest to become the number one artist in the world,” he said, before launching into the rap of Touch the Sky, a verbose barrage of wordplay on a typically aspirational theme. On a raised platform behind him a pair of percussionists flailed about on timpani and a pair of huge kodo drums, while a small group of musicians and singers managed to sound like an orchestral big band thanks to the skilful application of sampling and synthesiser technology.
Combining old hits such as Gold Digger and All Falls Down with material from his current album, Graduation, West paced the four corners of the stage in a ceaseless flurry of words and motion. Can't Tell Me Nothing, one of his most powerful declamations, found him dreaming that he could buy his way into heaven. By the end of the show it looked as if he was on his way, as he stood, arms raised, bathed in a dazzling beam of white light from behind. If not quite Götterdämmerung, then perhaps hip hop's answer to ET.
Signing Off
7/31/2008 01:31:00 AM
0 << Commented Here
7/31/2008 01:31:00 AM
0 << Commented Here