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SXSW scene: Kanye, Jay-Z, everyone at Seaholm
Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
“Did that really just happen,” one young man asked aloud to himself as he sat on a street corner holding his face in his hands at 4:30 a.m.
Kanye West, several of his “GOOD Music” recording artists - and a handful of special guests - brought the heat to a blustery, “Super moon”-lit night at Austin’s old Seaholm / Austin Electric Power Plant late Saturday evening.
After multiple mixed-text-messages and much confusion about exactly who would be added to the guest list to see West and guests at the VEVO Powerstation inside Seaholm, around midnight the line began to slowly, slowly move. Many people - including myself - were testy after standing in line for more than three hours. The VIP and press line was even more unorganized than the text-RSVP line. Completely overwhelmed organizationally, aside from a strong police presence, West’s VEVO performance was another example where unofficial SXSW party organizers appeared completely under-prepared for the crush of people that responded and arrived.
Slowly and unsurely,about 2,000 fans gained entrance. After a few crowd control problems at other events earlier in the week, it seemed clear that the VEVO party organizers were mitigating their underprepared event: only 10-20 people at a time were allowed to enter to prevent a riotous crush. Seaholm eventually filled up, but the fire marshals and police in attendance made sure there was lots of room at the back of the venue, too. The most common complaint from people in line was the general lack of organization (there was a horrible bottleneck at the entrance) and lack of information about who would actually gain entrance (SXSW badges, text RSVPs, peeps without the RSVP?).
At 1:04 a.m., black drapes dropped on the Seaholm stage revealing Kanye’s larger-than-lifesize “GOOD MUSIC” light-up stage props. At 1:15 a.m., ominous music finally started as nine ski-masked people lined-up across the stage. Mos Def emerged from the masked incantation crew, kicking off the night with what’s universally considered real, “Conscious,” hip hop. Although the show began 1 hour and 16 minutes behind schedule, Mos Def got the party started correct with his no non-sense, old-school flow during “Oh No,” “World Premiere,” “Lord Lord Lord,” “Brooklyn in My Mind” and powerful acapella verses of “Casa Bey.”
The audience was primed. Free Tito’s Vodka and assorted other adult beverages flowed unregulated. The energy in the old Power Plant buzzed like electricity. Even the VIP line has been a mess; once inside, everyone in the audience - VIP and other- felt a kinship because everyone had to wait and endure several hours of “unorganized line” pain.
After Mos Def, the highlights of the assorted guests included Pusha T’s (of Clipse) big bass beats and street cred-flow. Also Kid Cudi’s dance beats set the place off, allowing Seaholm to feel like a NYC warehouse party for a few songs.
R&B/pop vocalist John Legend was fine accompanying Kanye. But Legend’s piano playing and ballad crooning felt out of place when he took a solo turn on “Ordinary People.”
Although I was quite comfortable in back, two nice young women from Mexico and La Grange scooped me up and brought me to the front of the stage. “You’re not allowed to be alone at Kanye’s SXSW show,” they said. Reporter or not, no nerdy writing in my notebook … it was time to dance! Turns out I owe them great thanks, because the closer you got to the stage, the more powerful the beats were as they rattled your ribcage. Proximity and intensity increased exponentially the closer you crept toward the stage.
Say what you will about West’s histrionics, his foot-in-mouth disease or his inane Twitter ramblings: The man is a consummate entertainer. Like Prince, West is at his best when he collaborates with equally talented musicians, challenging him to raise his game. “Dark Fantasy,” “Gorgeous,” “Runaway” and “All of the Lights” transcended their brilliantly produced versions from West’s critically acclaimed most recent album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” The power plant’s vaulted ceilings tastefully spread the sound and heavy bass across the room. West’s flow was all determined “pow-wer.” Even when he drops double-time verse, his flow is still crystal clear and doubly determined.
West’s VEVO set fell short of the “show of a lifetime” performance he dropped at the Fader Fort during SXSW a few years ago, despite Jay-Z’s surprise guest appearance. (Only at SXSW would a surprise appearance from H.O.V.A. himself seem completely normal.)
Twice Kanye forgot the words to two different songs; granted, it was well past 3:30 a.m. when he and Jay-Z looked at each other, smiling, wondering who was going to take the next verse on “Monster.” But the crowd was very forgiving as Kanye laughed-off the impromptu slip-ups. By the time he ripped through “Good Life” after 4 a.m., those remaining in the audience were flying high from a powerful late-night house party.
On one of West’s strongest anthems, clock time and body fatigue dropped away as approximately 2,000 fans sang the “Good Life” refrain in unison, “Now I, I go for mine / I got to shine / Now throw your hands up in the sky…I’m a get on this TV momma, I’m a put (expletive) down” as MTV cameras flew around on booms capturing every delicious moment for posterity (and future broadcast).
West’s infectious melody and maddeningly perfect pop sensibility closed out what may go down as one of the rowdiest SXSW’s in the festival’s 25-year history.
Setlist
“Oh No” - Mos Def
“World Premiere” - Mos Def
“Lord Lord Lord” - Mos Def
“Brooklyn in My Mind”‘ - Mos Def
“Casa Bey” - Mos Def
“Grindin’” - Pusha T (of Clipse)
“What Happened to That Boy” - Pusha T
“My God” - Pusha T
“Too Fake” - Big Sean
“Supa Dupa Lemonade” - Big Sean
“My Last” - Big Sean
“Sideways” - CyHi Da Prince
“Love Never Dies (Back for the First Time)” - Mr. Hudson and Caspa
“Young Forever” - Mr. Hudson and Caspa
“Mr. Rager” - Kid Cudi
“Memories” - Kid Cudi
“Day ‘N’ Night” - Kid Cudi
“Pursuit of Happiness” - Kid Cudi
“Dark Fantasy” - Kanye West and Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver)
“Gorgeous” - Kanye West and Kid Cudi
“Hell of a Life” - Kanye West
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” - Kanye West
“Christian Dior Denim Flow” - Kanye West, John Legend, Pusha T and Kid Cudi
“Blame Game” - Kanye West and John Legend
“Ordinary People” - John Legend
“Power”/”Say You Will” - Kanye West
“Runaway” - Kanye West and Pusha T
“All of the Lights” - Kanye West and marching band
Encore
“H.A.M.” - Kanye West and Jay-Z
“Monster” - Kanye West and Jay-Z
“My Name is HOV” - Jay-Z
“So Appalled” - Kanye West and Jay-Z
“Big Pimpin’” - Jay-Z and Kanye West
Encore
“Lost in the World” - Kanye West and Justin Vernon
Encore
“Good Life” - Kanye West and friends
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