Kanye West Saint Pablo Tour (August 27th, 2016)

Considering that my expectations were higher than the aerial stage, disappointment was imminent. It is natural for artists to progress, or change, and for their approach to the music or their shows to do the same. His stage theatrics were subtle and the presentation was devoid of any conceptual or visual accompaniment, aside from "All of the Lights," which was a stand out. His concert was a showcase of the music, as concerts should be, but after hearing of spacemen in a search for inspiration and set pieces that could rival Broadway, I was underwhelmed. It would not have bothered me as much, had he dove deeper into his discography and injected more of his hits into the set list, but this is Kanye: "Can't Tell Me Nothing." I understand that he wanted to introduce The Life of Pablo to his fans in a live setting, but there may have been a better way to do that. He did play songs such as "All Falls Down," "Ni**as in Paris" sans Hov, "Flashing Lights," and "Jesus Walks," which were great, but there were so many other options when it came to a set list; his new album was a healthy portion.                                                                                                                                      Yeezus has yet to be stripped of his "Power" to move a crowd, I will admit that. While to hear "Robocop," "Bad News" or "Street Lights" would have been "Amazing," the latter wasn't bad. I am certain that I am not the only person who would have preferred to hear more of his earlier material, and while "I Love Kanye," I believe that his Kancentraton is too diluted by multiple pursuits to create music that can captivate like his college-bound collective, or his ode to drum-machines and broken hearts, and I am aware that he did release several albums between 808s  and Pablo, but I did not hear them in full to appropriately equate their subjective value; maybe it would have helped if I had acquainted myself with the material prior, but it would still not be the same because the music was not.                                                                                                                                                After giving myself a few days to process the experience, I will agree that I am glad to have gone, because even if it was not what I expected, I would have been plagued by the incessant "if only" in the back of my mind, and the show was good. The interludes did compensate a tad for the muted stage presecence, as well as the videography that was displayed on screen. Kanye did utilize the moving stage appropriately, giving each end of the stadium a fair shake, even gracing the hands of, a good percentage, the general admission fans.                                                                                  What I suppose was a touching moment was when Mr. West relayed a request to the fans, to sit down whether in the stands or on the ground, legs crossed, yet the meaning was lost. The audio was muffled. Acoustics can play a major role in the enjoyment of a show, and the inconsistent clarity of what was said was a turn-off. We could factor in the one hundred and five minute wait, but that did not hinder my ability to appreciate. Mr. West, I confess that I may not be so quick to spend cash the next tour, however my curiosity incites the need for more.