Kanye West

[man next door]

No disrespect to you mate but if you think that a headliner needs to play instruments then you kind of need to realise that music just isn't in that place any more. I'm not there to stroke my beard about how impressive some guys guitar solo is, I'm there to have a good time and for hip hop acts that's about engaging with the crowd and the performance of rapping etc.

 

And where do you stand on dance acts? Live dance is hardly ever produced with instruments but with something like ableton live.

 

As it stands there are far far far too many white people playing guitar headlining the pyramid stage, it doesn't represent the contemporary musical landscape in anyway. If anything Kanye's set and the reaction to it shows that there needs to be MORE risks taken it Glastonbury seriously wants to be considered a festival of contemporary performing arts.  

 

Fair do's - I'd have to disagree with you, but fair do's.

 

I like some dance acts alot - I'm picky, because I've spent enough time in dark clubs to appreciate the art of playing a dance set. By this I mean actually mixing tunes, as opposed to having software do it for you. I love a turntablist too, don't get me wrong - I'm not one of the 'has to be a rock band' noel galacher types. For the record, I don't like  that kind of guitar music much. 

 

For me, a (albeit pretty $hit) musician, a glastonbury main stage saturday night headliner should have live instrumentation - Jay Z did, and I thought it was pretty decent.

 

If you're happy to be entertained by that setup, then fair enough, I see your point about voice as an instrument etc, but to me it just seems cheap, and his inability to even start some of the tunes in time just looked amateurish. I didn't feel as though he connected with the crowd, but I may well be wrong, that's just how it looked to me.

 

variation is good, my favourite direction is Ska and reggae, and that's never going to see a pyramid headliner, no matter how live or technically adept it is.

[man next door]

It's a view I have an amount of general sympathy towards, and yet.... when the Chemical Brothers headlined, there was none of the same complaint.

 

So i'd say - don't take this personally - that a complaint like that is driven by something else that's not really about the lack of instruments, and is instead driven by a person's attitude towards that act.

 

yeah, it's a fair point - you may well be right to some extent here.

 

perhaps theres a bit less tolerance because its the biggest stage too. I expect 'better', although I realise that 'better' is entirely subjective.

[blackred]

I think part of the problem with any bass heavy act and the Pyramid is that the sound system there really isn't suited to it. It's designed to get clear audio as far up the hill as possible without annoying the neighbours which means the bass has to be limited.

 

West Holts can really crank it out and it makes a huge difference, Run the Jewels were exceptional and have a very limited stage show, and the bass for Flying Lotus was enough to send me to the long drop.

 

Don't really think there is a solution to this as you need a big stage for these size of acts which in turn limits what kind of sound setups available. Big outdoor stages will always be a struggle for certain types of acts regardless of the quality of their performance.

[russycarps]

I can't believe people are complaining because he didn't spout a load of insincere crap inbetween songs.

Do you need to hear some cringey shite about ley lines like at Paul McCartney, or be patronisingly patted on the bonce and told how you're the best audience ever, in order to have a good time?

Amazing

[Alcatraz]

I'll just say. I've never seen the best musicians or best singers of the festival headline the Pyramid stage (I alas missed 2010 and Stevie otherwise i wouldn't say this) Florence on the highlights still sounds like a mangled cat when singing live, and her voice is meant to be her selling point!

 

It's set up for acts to make mistakes, given it's size, the technicals that goes into making a show from lighting to sound, crowd noise etc. And all of them, including U2 and the Stones who have toured the world for decades made mistakes on it. But Kanye, like Bono and Mick have the bravado and presence to more than make up for it

Edited June 30, 2015 by Alcatraz

[Mash011]

He, and everybody else, know he's capable of much more than was on show on Saturday.

 

This is the crux of it. Anyone who's seen stuff from his Yeezus tour knows what Kanye can do when he commits himself to a show. His Glastonbury performance just wasn't that

[The Placid Casual]

I can't believe people are complaining because he didn't spout a load of insincere crap inbetween songs.

Do you need to hear some cringey shite about ley lines like at Paul McCartney, or be patronisingly patted on the bonce and told how you're the best audience ever, in order to have a good time?

Amazing

I seemed to cross of the easy wins in my mind during most sets.

 

1. 'GLASTONBURYYYYY!'

2. Inserting 'Glastonbury' into a song

3. The clapping to the beat (looking at you here Frank)

4. 'Are you all having a good time? I can't hear you!'

 

Sleaford Mods were fucking amazing for doing the complete opposite to this. 'Fuck you Glastonbury!'

 

Super Furry Animals with the signs too. Excellent.

[Teddington]

It's a view I have an amount of general sympathy towards, and yet.... when the Chemical Brothers headlined, there was none of the same complaint.

 

So i'd say - don't take this personally - that a complaint like that is driven by something else that's not really about the lack of instruments, and is instead driven by a person's attitude towards that act

 

And this is the key point.

 

The fact that he comes accross as someone who is losing their mind .  Greatest rock star on the planet?  It's a bit like a 9 stone 15  year old claiming they are the worlds stongest man. 

 

I mean I nearly choked on my pint when I heard it........

 

It was an awful set.  People are saying that he has the talent for it not to be.  Fine, I will take them at their word.

 

So in that case what was it?  Bad luck?  Poor rehersal?  Or not giving a shit?

[Alcatraz]

Why was the bit where he stopped Touch The Sky, disappeared for ages, and then reappeared on that cherry picker obviously a stunt/joke? I heard him say something like "Mike, that's not how we rehearsed it in the dressing room." He is not a man known to have a brilliant deadpan sense of humour, so I think the most simple explanation is that it was a cock-up either from him or his crew.

You've just typed out the explanation he gave on stage for it. 

 

At that point he was getting strapped to a cherry picker to go perform what will be the iconic moment of the festival. Not like he could go give ol' Mike a slap on the back and say 'No hard feelings chap'

[russycarps]

And this is the key point.

The fact that he comes accross as someone who is losing their mind . Greatest rock star on the planet? It's a bit like a 9 stone 15 year old claiming they are the worlds stongest man.

I mean I nearly choked on my pint when I heard it........

It was an awful set. People are saying that he has the talent for it not to be. Fine, I will take them at their word.

So in that case what was it? Bad luck? Poor rehersal? Or not giving a shit?

Or just personal opinion?

[Teddington]

Or just personal opinion?

 

Well if you want to go down that route isn't ALL music personal opinion.

 

Would be a very dull noticeboard wouldn't it?

[russycarps]

Well if you want to go down that route isn't ALL music personal opinion.

Would be a very dull noticeboard wouldn't it?

The reason you didn't like it is because you were too far out of your comfort zone I suspect.

[Gregcharlie]

You've just typed out the explanation he gave on stage for it. 

 

At that point he was getting strapped to a cherry picker to go perform what will be the iconic moment of the festival. Not like he could go give ol' Mike a slap on the back and say 'No hard feelings chap'

You can imagine Mike is stood there with the same setlist Kanye has got, tied down with gaffer tape as is the norm, the most he could have scribbled next to Touch the Sky is 'On Crane' if it was only spoken about in the dressing room beforehand, how is he supposed to know when Kanye is ready to go up?

Edited June 30, 2015 by Gregcharlie

[ghostdancer1]

And this is the key point.

 

The fact that he comes accross as someone who is losing their mind .  Greatest rock star on the planet?  It's a bit like a 9 stone 15  year old claiming they are the worlds stongest man. 

 

I mean I nearly choked on my pint when I heard it........

 

It was an awful set.  People are saying that he has the talent for it not to be.  Fine, I will take them at their word.

 

So in that case what was it?  Bad luck?  Poor rehersal?  Or not giving a shit?

 

what is "it"?

 

i thought it was a great set, but I like his music.

if you're someone who doesn't and wanted to be entertained with dancers or props or something then you were at the wrong show, go to the Theatre field or something.

 

why people are crying about not being entertained by something they don't like is really bizarre...

[Gregcharlie]

I seemed to cross of the easy wins in my mind during most sets.

 

1. 'GLASTONBURYYYYY!'

2. Inserting 'Glastonbury' into a song

3. The clapping to the beat (looking at you here Frank)

4. 'Are you all having a good time? I can't hear you!'

 

Sleaford Mods were fucking amazing for doing the complete opposite to this. 'Fuck you Glastonbury!'

 

Super Furry Animals with the signs too. Excellent.

or if you're the one on before Kanye, 

 

5. Whenever you come to England you know you'll see the prettiest girls.

6. English girls put your hands up.

7. I love you Glastonberry, especially all the English girls with English blood.

8. Look at my dancers 'the baes' who I'm going to objectify before they start dancing for you.

Tedious.

 

Shit.

[Mash011]

If people could stop trying to invalidate others' opinions with shit like 'oh you just don't like kanye' that'd be great. Some of us really wanted it to be amazing but it was just a sub-par performance, by his standards and by the standards of the festival.

[eFestivals]

And this is the key point.

 

The fact that he comes accross as someone who is losing their mind .  Greatest rock star on the planet?  It's a bit like a 9 stone 15  year old claiming they are the worlds stongest man. 

 

I mean I nearly choked on my pint when I heard it........

 

It was an awful set.  People are saying that he has the talent for it not to be.  Fine, I will take them at their word.

 

So in that case what was it?  Bad luck?  Poor rehersal?  Or not giving a shit?

 

I'd say, for you, not your tastes (in one way or another).

 

But that sounds a bit weak, so people look for better ways to justify their dislike and end up latching onto something else - such as "he doesn't play real instruments". 

 

Nothing about that means he can't also be shite as well, but but a person still needs a way to say why he's shit so they look for a justificiation.

[ghostdancer1]

You can imagine Mike is stood there with the same setlist Kanye has got, tied down with gaffer tape as is the norm, the most he could have scribbled next to Touch the Sky is 'On Crane' if it was only spoken about in the dressing room beforehand, how is he supposed to know when Kanye is ready to go up?

 

well when your employer tells you to do something, people generally remember...

 

if my boss said "hey, go do this later today", and i said "yes, of course i will", it's generally my fault if i completely forget to do it....

[russycarps]

or if you're the one on before Kanye,

5. Whenever you come to England you know you'll see the prettiest girls.

6. English girls put your hands up.

7. I love you Glastonberry, especially all the English girls with English blood.

8. Look at my dancers 'the baes' who I'm going to objectify before they start dancing for you.

Tedious.

Shit.

Haha I saw that whole set. Truly grim, sinister stuff. And some of the lyrics to the songs were amazing. Really depressing, dreadful stuff.

The crowd seemed to lap it up though!

Then again, the Dalai Lama at the stone circle gave females a bit of a hard time too...

[ThomZorke]

Then again, the Dalai Lama at the stone circle gave females a bit of a hard time too...

What's that about?

[russycarps]

What's that about?

He said some crap about scientists have discovered women are more capable of love than men so it's up to them to educate the next generation to be more caring. Or something like that anyway. I found it pretty jarring.

[ghostdancer1]

If people could stop trying to invalidate others' opinions with shit like 'oh you just don't like kanye' that'd be great. Some of us really wanted it to be amazing but it was just a sub-par performance, by his standards and by the standards of the festival.

 

what was sub-par? his vocal delivery and flow was good. the setlist was a mix of old favourites, his biggest singles, and album tracks for fans.

please expand on what was sub-par.

[stuartbert two hats]

For those that enjoyed it, were you all pretty far forwards? Like in front of the mixing desks? I ask, because the most unusual thing about that gig seemed to be the lighting; something which apparently lost its effectiveness when you were further back. It certainly didn't translate on TV when they did the long shots.

Edited June 30, 2015 by stuartbert two hats

[pedmills]

if you ... wanted to be entertained with dancers or props or something then you were at the wrong show, go to the Theatre field or something.

 

 

But loads of headliners have had dancers, props, fireworks, lasers, confetti, lights that are more than one colour, etc... Arcade Fire had all of those things, and they are hardly a cheesy pop act.  It's a festival - I am certain that most people in the crowd want a visually interesting show. 

I've watched videos of all the recent Glastonbury headliners and the only ones apart from Kanye West to not have elaborate multicoloured lights are Mumford & Sons and Bruce Springsteen. And most people seem to think their sets were rubbish.

Theatrics matter. It's headlining Glastonbury for god's sake.

Edited June 30, 2015 by pedmills

[The Nal]

The only reason I didnt enjoy it was because it was boring. So so boring. And thousands (maybe tens of thousands) felt the same as they were streaming out of the Pyramid Field as fast as they could.

Ive never felt embarrassed for a performer like that before. It was cringing.