The 2200 capacity Nokia Theater (directly across from the Staples Center) was at max capacity last night. The lights were off and stage was glowing. The night started with Lupe Fiasco. His high energy, skateboard infused hip hop is a nice break from the current radio rap. His set list was short, but he managed to cover his hits, “Kick, Push” , “Paris, Tokyo” and “Superstar” which he was joined on stage by Matthew Santos.
After a quick intermission, NERD took the stage and rocked the crowd. With all due respect to Pharrell, as a producer and solo artist, NERD sounds like a high school garage band who is rehearsing for the Cobalt Cafe. That didn’t seem to matter to the NERD fans who quickly rushed the stage. By the end of their performance the entire place was packed. There was not one open seat.
Rhianna took the stage next which had it’s own glow in the dark feel. Rhianna must spend hours every day working on her body because she is smoking hot…for lack of a better term. She flew through her set, even cutting some of her hits short. Rhianna played all of her singles except for her very first one, “Pon de Replay.”
At exactly 10:40pm, the curtain rose to Kanye laying on floor of a deserted set. His spaceship, Jane, informs him that he has crashed landed on an unknown planet. She is broken and it is unknown how long it will take for her to repair herself. For 80 minutes, the stage was constantly evolving, displaying different backgrounds and themes as he incorporated them into his set list. At one point, Kanye bitched “that he needs pu**y” and Jane quickly transformed into a (hot) gold woman on the LCD screen. A crowd pleasing “Gold Digger” performance followed.
Many times throughout the show the notion that Kanye is the biggest star in the universe was heavily implied. Actually, it was said many times in those exact words. This is a Kanye West headlining show, and I would expect nothing less. After Kanye finally fixes the spaceship and returns to Earth, he is joined by Lupe Fiasco for his final track. “LA Reid, Jaime Foxx, don’t leave yet, it’s not over” shouted Kanye followed by much laughter from the crowd. Kanye tried to introduce his live band and DJ, which were hidden behind the scenery. Kanye was disappointed in his own ability to control that aspect and even said, “this is anti climatic!”
The show was one hell of an experience. It is very rare to see a hip hop artist take the stage, by himself for an hour and twenty minutes. There is room for improvement but overall it was pretty incredible. Kanye has a second show tonight at Nokia and at Staples in June. I wonder how different the Staples show will be. I guess I will just have to find out.