Kanye West

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

were there any?

Once again making bold statements before checking the facts.

Classic Tony Blair, it's that sort of attitude that lead to the Iraq war.

[Spud001]

rumbled!

I love NIN so I was pretty thrilled haha

[airwaves]

Just had this appear on my Facebook Time Line:-

[TomWales]

to me, there has never been a headline set that could better Rage Against The Machine at Reading 08 - that was just perfect. 

 

 

I actually thought Metallica were better at the same festival (massive RATM fan too, more so than Metallica), but most of my mates disagreed.

[eFestivals]

Just had this appear on my Facebook Time Line:-

 

 

[Guest]

Kanye's lighting rig did put me in mind of NIN's set-up from the Hesitation Marks show I went to (and Yeezus did make me think Kanye might have more than a casual interest in NIN), but Kanye's was all his own. There may be some inspiration taken from NIN's lights, but Kanye went bigger and more of a balls-out statement of intent, his was massive and monolithic, the lights were all one colour, it was a one-piece rig that didn't do a lot of moving around. There was more subtlety with NIN's, which suited the show more, but Kanye's was clearly meant to emphasise him as an individual, it's all about the "I am a God" thing. A big massive slab of lights, lighting up a lone rapper on an otherwise seemingly empty stage, one that is traditionally an iconic stomping ground of rock bands, Kanye was unapologetically showing off, mooning the w*nkers who signed that petition. 

[Gnomicide]

Though not to my taste, I thought Kanye was actually a good booking for the festival. Something different from the usual headliners doing the rounds, something to freshen things up a bit, maybe something new and exciting.

I've now watched the first 40 minutes, glad those that enjoyed it did so but come on, it was fucking dull wasn't it? One bloke wandering about under a barrage of lights. I knew I wouldn't like the music but where was the excitement, the intensity? I mean, Jay Z was shit but at least there was some semblance of a show.

Those apparently in the know on this thread will say he uses the autotune as an instrument. If that's the case, it's a fucking annoying instrument. I'd rather he'd played a kazoo.

So, to sum up... shite of hitherto unreachable proportions.

[Guest]

Though not to my taste, I thought Kanye was actually a good booking for the festival. Something different from the usual headliners doing the rounds, something to freshen things up a bit, maybe something new and exciting.

I've now watched the first 40 minutes, glad those that enjoyed it did so but come on, it was fucking dull wasn't it? One bloke wandering about under a barrage of lights. I knew I wouldn't like the music but where was the excitement, the intensity? I mean, Jay Z was shit but at least there was some semblance of a show.

Those apparently in the know on this thread will say he uses the autotune as an instrument. If that's the case, it's a fucking annoying instrument. I'd rather he'd played a kazoo.

So, to sum up... shite of hitherto unreachable proportions.

Sleaford Mods were even more bare bones than Kanye, and they went down a storm on this forum. Fair enough if it's not to your tastes, but a lot of us got a big kick out of the minimalist aesthetic he was going for and loved it. I'm all for the showbiz of yer Bjorks and yer Arcade Fires, but there was something very ballsy and unique about what Kanye did. Like everything he puts out into the world, you'll either be on board with it and love it, or it wont be your thing, this is no different. When guiatary beardy white credible rock musicial Bon Iver uses vocal effects as an instrument, nobody gets moody about it. There's something about Kanye that make him very hard to swallow for a lot of people, even if they'd let other musicians do it, it's on of the reasons I love him, he is the most interesting artist of his generation.

[CaledonianGonzo]

My main beef with his gig was that it was trying to be a bit different from other gigs.

[Mash011]

Like everything he puts out into the world, you'll either be on board with it and love it, or it wont be your thing, this is no different. 

 

Not this bullshit again

 

One guy on a stage rapping I can get behind, but it takes a certain kind of energy to pull of that kind of performance. You have to actually use the space. Kanye preferred to hide at the back of it and pretend the crowd weren't there. When it was instrumental section or a pre recorded hook Kanye would just wonder off and leave the performance space as essentially an empty stage with some lights and a backing track. Heck, sometimes he'd do that when he was rapping - look at 'I Wonder', it was bleak. This is not a way to create an engaging performance.

[Trebor]

It was shite, speaking as someone watching from home, who had no issue with him playing. Worst headline performance I've seen in twenty years.

[Guest]

Not this bullshit again

"Different people have different tastes and opinions" is.... bullshit? Whinge all you want about how you think it wasn't an engaging performance, but there's a lot of people who were engaged by it. Where you see a big empty stage and hidden instruments, others have seen and engaged with a deliberate artistic choice. As I've mentioned in my other posts, Kanye on an empty stage lit up, is clearly a showboating statement about being a rapper on an iconic rock n roll stage, singing Bohemian Rhapsody, shouting he's the greatest rock star alive, it was clearly an anti-rock show. He knew what he was doing, and those of us that recognised that enjoyed it. The biggest breath of fresh air to the Pyramid in years.

[Mash011]

"Different people have different tastes and opinions" is.... bullshit? Whinge all you want about how you think it wasn't an engaging performance, but there's a lot of people who were engaged by it. Where you see a big empty stage and hidden instruments, others have seen and engaged with a deliberate artistic choice. As I've mentioned in my other posts, Kanye on an empty stage lit up, is clearly a showboating statement about being a rapper on an iconic rock n roll stage, singing Bohemian Rhapsody, shouting he's the greatest rock star alive, it was clearly an anti-rock show. He knew what he was doing, and those of us that recognised that enjoyed it. The biggest breath of fresh air to the Pyramid in years.

 

I called your post bullshit because you put out the repeated fallacy in this thread that people who didn't like his Glastonbury set just don't like or don't understand Kanye. This is simply not true.

 

My issues with Kanye's set were largely in the execution rather than the conception of it. Because the problem with turning your performance into essentially a one man show on that huge stage is that you have to bring up the level of your performance to match that. You can't let the show slip, you have to maintain constant energy and constant presence. And ultimately a lot of huge Kanye fans such as myself felt that he just wasn't performing to a high enough level to succeed at what he was trying to do.

[FuzzyDunlop]

The Sleaford Mods / Kanye comparison is a good one. Having watched Kanye on TV, but I was there for Sleaford Mods, I can't quite compare them, but, I'll try:

My initial reaction when the Kanye performance started was "that looks good". I think if I was in the pit, I would have thought it was far more engaging than if I was further back.

There are comments from someone on here who hated Sleaford Mods, he / she says they were probably too far back.

A minimal performance probably doesn't translate further back. So on that regard I can see why it is a polarising performance.

Then...

The sleaford mods are talking about being on the dole, hating your boss and spit the dog. These are things I can relate to. Kanye comes out saying...

"She said Ye can we get married at the mall?

I said look you need to crawl ‘fore you ball

Come and meet me in the bathroom stall

And show me why you deserve to have it all

Ball so hard

That shit cray (that shit cray), ain’t it Jay?"

I don't talk like that or use phrases like "cray"

Compared to the sleaford mods "Johnny Borrell went to find himself, did the country care? Did they fuck" That, I can relate to.

- As an aside, the biggest star in the world comment doesn't bother me at all. He needs to be full of himself, it's what has made him successful. If he wasn't so confident, he would not be headlining the festival

Edited July 3, 2015 by FuzzyDunlop

[CaledonianGonzo]

While it's often nice to be reminded of home, sometimes it's even more exciting to be transported to somewhere new / unfamiliar.

[FuzzyDunlop]

While it's often nice to be reminded of home, sometimes it's even more exciting to be transported to somewhere new / unfamiliar.

It may have been you I was talking to about hip hop when Kanye was announced as I wanted to get onboard with it.

I'm not a big hip hop fan, but I can appreciate it at times. For me to enjoy it, it needs to be funky (Qtip) for example or talking about topics I like and can relate to. Someone posted a rapper on here I had never heard of (Akala) and I loved what I heard.

Kanye for me just doesn't do it for me. I just find him pretty boring. Some good productions though.

I think the vitriol he seems to ignite, I find pretty bizarre. Being full of yourself is hardly a crime. He gets stick for things he shouldn't.

Edited July 3, 2015 by FuzzyDunlop

[CaledonianGonzo]

I was barely listening to the words. What swung it for me was the jarring switches between odd squelchy sonic dissonance and then big old bright and tuneful Curtis Mayfield blasting out at full whack. It wasn't out of my comfort zone, but it was closer to it than most Pyramid headliners.

[CaledonianGonzo]

TWENTY FIRST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN!

[topmarksbri]

The fact that we're still talking about it pretty fervently is exactly why they should book more artists like him.

As for being relatable I can't relate to a 70 year old man singing about his generation or playing pinball but I understand the place that it comes from.

[FuzzyDunlop]

The fact that we're still talking about it pretty fervently is exactly why they should book more artists like him.

I agree. I have always been "pro kanye". I just didn't want to watch him.

[The Nal]

The fact that we're still talking about it pretty fervently is exactly why they should book more artists like him

Why? Countless thousands left and went elsewhere.

They were not entertained.

[FloorFiller]

Why? Countless thousands left and went elsewhere.

They were not entertained.

 

or, countless thousands stayed and were right there

 

they were entertained

[Matt42]

I don't know where this countless left thing comes from

Crowd looked and stayed massive for the whole thing! People leave acts all the time, just because a few people towards the back watched with intent to storm off did, does not reflect a bad performance that quite a lot of people enjoyed.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Matt42

[The Nal]

or, countless thousands stayed and were right there

they were entertained

But surely the point of a headliner is to entertain the crowd? All of the crowd if possible.

I cant over exaggerate how many people left from the 30 minute point. Never seen anything like it.

And they were leaving from the front too. The Wateraid/Oxfam side, all I could see were endless heads moving in the opposite direction.

Edited July 4, 2015 by The Nal

[Zero_Newnab]

No headliner has ever entertained every single member of a crowd at Glastonbury. There'll always be some Pyramid campers there who don't really want to see it and hundreds more who swing by to see what the fuss is all about for a bit before deciding it's not their thing.