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By Jellymon
We went to the Kanye West show last night and it was just so so. We’d been looking forward to this show for a while so maybe we over-hyped it in our head.
When you label the show as part of the Glow In The Dark tour, having seen footage of the US tour (with Kanye, N*E*R*D, Lupe Fiasco and Rhiana and an amazing stage setup) you think you are in for something special.
The Shanghai show was mad stripped-down. We heard Louis Vuitton China wouldn’t sponsor the Louis Vuitton Don and Nike also didn’t feel it, so maybe there were budget issues. Kanye just didn’t seem that into it and songs were played back to back with almost no interaction with the crowd.
On the flipside the music was really really great and the sound system didn't suck too much. Tracks like Gold Digger, American Boy and Stronger killed it.
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How full was the venue?
From various adverts and interviews promoting the show I got the impression there were plenty of tickets left.
It was probably 80% full - for seats facing the stage. There was a lot of seats which wouldn't have had any view at all - so I think they wouldn't have sold even if it was sold-out.
There were hundreds of huang niu though - and they were selling at less than face value.
As for the concert itself, he put together a very good show - pretty much a greatest hits package (except jesus walks - and maybe a few other songs that I would've liked to hear like Drive Slow or I Wonder) - but it was appropriate for an international audience. And of course, none of the full show that everyone else is getting for Glow in the Dark.
But the sound was good - which is a big change from say, Linkin Park or The Roots.
Yeah, live hip hop, weak. Place was 50% full max, which means big losses for the promoters. Too bad. Nice to show Kanye he's irrelevant in some parts of the world tho.
I was thinking 80% was a bit high, too. My guess was less than half, and lots of those folks were there to see Van Ness.