Kanye West

[russycarps]

I don't see anything wrong with him headlining. He has as much 'right' as anyone. I've seen plenty of supposedly suitable headliners be just as boring.... Oasis, Kings of Leon, Killers... Etc etc

You went to see killers, kings of Leon and oasis?

Wow...

[Guest]

Just watched the Justin Vernon bit back. It didn't work at all, fell flat on their arses. I loved the rest of the set, but this bit was just shite, there were some clear technical problems here. He pulls it back during No Church In The Wild, but you can see it got to him, doesn't get back into his full flow until half way through the show. I think this is where the complaints are coming from, the set's a complete triumph for me apart from that 10 minutes of fart. The cruel irony is that Justin Vernon joining him on stage to do those two songs was my number 1 dream for the show, I should be careful what I wish for in future.

[topmarksbri]

Why? Countless thousands left and went elsewhere.

They were not entertained.

 

 nah fair play mate let's keep up the rotation of white men playing guitars around the festival circuit. Nothing more contemporary than seeing Arctic Monkeys play for the 10th time in 2030!!!!!

[topmarksbri]

He didn't win any new fans but I think that was kind of the point. What's a god to a non-believer?  If you weren't interested him in the first place then he wasn't going to win you over no matter what he did. So he pitched himself to those who actually wanted to see him, and given the reaction from this forum it seems that those who went to see him knowing his shit, it worked.

[dentalplan]

Nah can we pack it in with the "some people just don't get it" patronising attitude? There were folk disappointed that had been posting their preferred setlists months ago and frequently expressing their excitement beforehand, and on the other hand the OP said they were won over despite not being a fan.

 

And if he was only playing to his fans then he'd be a fucking donut as he was in front of 100,000 bods in the field and millions more at home.

Edited July 5, 2015 by dentalplan

[arcade fireman]

He didn't win any new fans but I think that was kind of the point. What's a god to a non-believer?  If you weren't interested him in the first place then he wasn't going to win you over no matter what he did. So he pitched himself to those who actually wanted to see him, and given the reaction from this forum it seems that those who went to see him knowing his shit, it worked.

What a load of rubbish. The whole point of a festival set is that you're trying to win new fans. 

 

Your argument might just about stand up if he was playing a gig with his name on the ticket. Most people there would have been interested in one way or another, otherwise they would have been somewhere else on site. 

Edited July 5, 2015 by arcade fireman

[frostypaw]

And if he was only playing to his fans then he'd be a fucking donut as he was in front of 100,000 bods in the field and millions more at home.

That's kinda it. Not an unusual festival set failing from artists - showing that you're the best means winning people over, upping your game - not doing something to give two fingers to the less fanatical

1. well known enough

2. has enough in the way of hits to fill the slot

3. can win over the crowd

tick tick fail.

I genuinely think we've had our "king of rock and roll" moment and it was years back. I don't even mean bowie and his incredible audience though how I wish I'd seen it - I mean McCartney in 2004. Whether you like his music or not that performance shook the festival to it's core.

The day after Kayne I heard no one talk about it unprompted past 'that was shit' - FOUR YEARS after McCartney people were still NA-Na-na-nananana-ing around site constantly.

Kanye may have caused a bit of controversy but I doubt we'll talk about it after next year's festival.

[grandadcollective]

People are still Na-na-na...ing. Scream Ju-judy- Judy Judy Judy JuDay! In any crowd of an evening and people get going

[Winslow Leach]

The day after Kayne I heard no one talk about it unprompted past 'that was shit' - FOUR YEARS after McCartney people were still NA-Na-na-nananana-ing around site constantly.

Kanye may have caused a bit of controversy but I doubt we'll talk about it after next year's festival.

It's easy to forget those dark days when the streets of Britain rang with the audible silence of people not singing 'na-na-na-nananana, hey Jude'

What an honour it must have been to have been there on that hallowed night in 2004, as McCartney struck up those opening piano chords and, as one, the crowd turned to each other in shock and amazement, the scales fallen from their eyes.

'What is this magnificence we hear before us?' they whispered is hushed awe, knowing that the world would never be chantless again.

Glorious stuff.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Winslow Leach

[The Nal]

nah fair play mate let's keep up the rotation of white men playing guitars around the festival circuit. Nothing more contemporary than seeing Arctic Monkeys play for the 10th time in 2030!!!!!

Why would anyone want to see that? Lets just have someone good instead?

I felt embarrassed at Kanye. Embarrassed personally, embarrassed for him and embarrassed for us all that we were actually at the gig. Embarrassed that our attendence was documented on tv too and theres a sense of continuous embarrassement now in this thread with people thinking he was good.

Mortified all round basically.

Edited July 5, 2015 by The Nal

[Wooderson]

I just look forward to the "Kanye isn't in the spirit of Glastonbury" bores jizzing when Oasis/ACDC/whichever up-themselves white men with guitars headline next year, that's all.

Wind yer neck in Quinn. Public Enemy at their peak trounce Kanye West in rhythm, flow, content, delivery. I saw Rakim a few years back in Dublin and the difference with his stuff and Kanye's is stark. His tunes just aren't that great to me. Has fark all (frankly) to do with usual rockist tropes. I fucking adore hiphop - love it mate - but this was dull to my ears. The visuals, staging etc I could care less about. His music just doesn't light me up.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

I felt embarrassed at Kanye. Embarrassed personally, embarrassed for him and embarrassed for us all that we were actually at the gig. Embarrassed that our attendence was documented on tv too and theres a sense of continuous embarrassement now in this thread with people thinking he was good.

Mortified all round basically.

Really? I don't think you've mentioned it before

Move on already, you're sounding like a broken record.

[Zero_Newnab]

So, seems like we've got three camps of people:

 

1. The "I liked it!" crew, typically but not always Kanye fans, who enjoyed the fact it was different and while nobody would say it was perfect, had a great time and thought it was entertaining.

 

2. The "I didn't like it" crew, typically people who weren't Kanye fans before (But some who were) for whom Kanye's particular brand of show isn't really their cup of tea as it turns out.

 

3. The fantasists who think Kanye strolled onto the stage and took a massive shit on the floor, prompting the entire crowd to walk out of the festival and start burning their programmes because he's the worst thing since unsliced bread.

 

 

Pick your team now! (Just don't pick 3, please)

[ghostdancer1]

The whole point of a festival set is that you're trying to win new fans. 

 

 

maybe not to everyone....

[CaledonianGonzo]

Kanye paces the dressing room beforehand, muses aloud:

"Normally I'm a hip hop artist, but maybe if I get my ukulele out and knock out a few Beatles covers I just might....."

*turns and point to camera*

"win new fans"

[Wooderson]

Really? I don't think you've mentioned it before

Move on already, you're sounding like a broken record.

 

Blur's music is on a British Gas ad. Did you know that Shanks?

 

[Guest]

What a load of rubbish. The whole point of a festival set is that you're trying to win new fans. 

Quite a reductive and cynical way of looking at it, if you ask me. There is no universal "whole point" of festival sets, if there was, it'd be boring. Each artist brings their own perspective to the table on what a festival set should be.

[Wooderson]

Kanye paces the dressing room beforehand, muses aloud:

"Normally I'm a hip hop artist, but maybe if I get my ukulele out and knock out a few Beatles covers I just might....."

*turns and point to camera*

"win new fans"

 

He shouldve stuck to his original plan, which was to do a 90 minute interpretation of David St Hubbins' "Saucy Jack".

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Blur's music is on a British Gas ad. Did you know that Shanks?

I think I've heard it mentioned once or twice...

John Lydon gets a free pass for the 'I'm a celebrity' appearance & the butter ads though, because the Nal creates his own logic by which only he knows the rules.

[CaledonianGonzo]

"That Dave Foo Fighter guy they all like runs around a lot. Maybe my sprints will melt their stony hearts....? Mike....get me a pair of gym shoes STAT!"

[Wooderson]

Quite a reductive and cynical way of looking at it, if you ask me. There is no universal "whole point" of festival sets, if there was, it'd be boring. Each artist brings their own perspective to the table on what a festival set should be.

 

I would dispute this. There is a "universality" to the festival set. If youre good enough to just do your thing, fine. However the playing to a crowd of people that didnt pay to specifically see you separates wheat from chaff. There are iconoclasts that stick to their guns, yet those shows are often the riskiest and least likely to succeed. Ive seen a few hiphop artists on the Pyramid. Wu Tang, Snoop, JayZ and Kanye. West's show was the least entertaining to me of those four - and he has the best live pedigree and most fervent following of them all.

[Wooderson]

It comes back to the music for me. Been listening to rap/hiphop for more than 25 years. His tunes don't do it for me. Maybe I just don't get him however. I expected someone of his fierce intellect and courage to at least challenge my perception. As it was it was infinitely easier for me to shrug and bimble off in another direction than see how things played out.

 

I can remember the post-show chat on here after JayZ. There were the same pro and con factions as there are now - but no one said it was uninteresting. Thats the real takeaway for me from West's performance. It was so forgettable.

[The Nal]

 West's show was the least entertaining to me of those four -

 

Thats surprising, with lyrics like "my apologies are you into astrology because Im trying to make it to Uranus" you'd think he could nail it!

 

 

Music for 12 year olds. 

 

I think I've heard it mentioned once or twice...

John Lydon gets a free pass for the 'I'm a celebrity' appearance & the butter ads though, because the Nal creates his own logic by which only he knows the rules.

 

Thank God for the butter ad! Paid for his album and tour! Only reason hes still going. A genuinely interesting human too.

 

Hows that for logic? 

[Zero_Newnab]

It comes back to the music for me. Been listening to rap/hiphop for more than 25 years. His tunes don't do it for me. Maybe I just don't get him however. I expected someone of his fierce intellect and courage to at least challenge my perception. As it was it was infinitely easier for me to shrug and bimble off in another direction than see how things played out.

 

I can remember the post-show chat on here after JayZ. There were the same pro and con factions as there are now - but no one said it was uninteresting. Thats the real takeaway for me from West's performance. It was so forgettable.

 

The Kanye performance was many things but I don't think it was forgettable. It's still the headliner performance people are talking about and tweeting about and arguing about and facebooking about and talking about at work. Hell, look at this thread. Divisive? Yes. But forgettable or uninteresting? If it was, we wouldn't still be here talking about it.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Thats surprising, with lyrics like "my apologies are you into astrology because Im trying to make it to Uranus" you'd think he could nail it!

Music for 12 year olds.

Thank Christ none of the big rock bands have ever resorted to juvenile, sexist lyrics going back - via calypso, blues and jazz - to the dawn of recorded sound, eh? EH? EH?