Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2011 > September > 17 > Entry
ACL Fest review: Kanye West
There was a surprisingly small crowd with about twenty minutes to go until the Kanye West set Friday night. When West finally came on, he did so in grand fashion, in a crate that had been carried out to the center of the crowd; after an opening sequence by his dancers, who are clearly modeled on “Black Swan,” he popped out of the box and boarded an elevated platform, which took him high above the audience for “Dark Fantasy” (Nakia shot some of video of West’s entrance here). Then, instead of having a helicopter airlift him out, he walked to the stage on a barred-off path through the crowd, distributing high-fives.
It was an over-the-top beginning to an over-the-top show, which included a backdrop of Gothic-style stone angels and was divided into three ‘acts,’ which really didn’t really break up the show in a particularly meaningful way. No one seemed to mind, though, probably because that’s just the kind of half-baked craziness that has earned West truckloads of attention.
There was no band, just a small team of DJs spitting out samples and synth effects. When Jay-Z played the Erwin Center a while back, he brought along a pretty incredible band and it seemed to give the music more life in a live setting. While it would be tough for Kanye to have a live band play an entire set of music given his reliance on electronic sounds, etc., he removed any doubt that rappers need a band to boost a show.
After starting with an epic “Higher” and an equally hard-hitting “Power,” West broke into “Jesus Walks.” The reaction to that early hit highlighted the fact that his older material is better than the new stuff, regardless of how many end of the year lists it lands on. People loved “All of the Lights,” “Run This Town” (though we got a piped-in Rhianna part and no Jay-Z) etc., but they went absolutely nuts for “the Good Life,” “Stronger” (a highlight, with a laser light show that did the Daft Punk sample justice) and “Gold Digger.” With huge hooks that filled the park, those songs had more power than the more minimal recent material.
That doesn’t mean that newer songs didn’t play well live. “Heartless” and “Love Lockdown” were both singalongs, as was “Runaway,” during which West thanked his crew for their hard work as everyone threw their hands up in a disturbing “toast to the douche-bags” (really?). He closed with the Bon Iver-sampling “Lost in the World,” and then thanked the fans, because as much as people hate his egomania, they also enable it.
Follow Austin Music Source on Facebook and Twitter.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Categories: ACL 2011
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By stan
September 17, 2011 9:58 AM | Link to this
Nakia says his performance was horrible per the youtube clip. How? The production value was outstanding and the crowd ate it up.
Dude headlined ACL and owned the crowd.
Horrible? Ha.
By Jeff
September 17, 2011 10:11 AM | Link to this
Kanye was probably the worst headline performance I have ever seen.What a huge waste of money and time!
By Jason
September 17, 2011 10:39 AM | Link to this
Jeff, it is a festival, so plenty of other options. Did you spend $185 on a 3 day pass, or $90 for a single day ticket just to see Kayne?
If so, that was indeed a waste of money, lots of other bands played yesterday.
By Jeff
September 17, 2011 10:52 AM | Link to this
Jason, I was referring to the money wasted by ACL to bring Kanye to the festival. I had a great time and enjoyed the day
By Louis
September 17, 2011 11:05 AM | Link to this
If you’re a true hip hop fan, and most of those mannequins in the crowd are not, you know this is not what you wanted to see. No guest appearances whatsoever, and nothing from Watch The Throne!!!!! Nothing! No HAM, no Otis, no ****** In Paris!!! Did the festival organizers ban him from bringing out guests to make this a truely hip hop show? Hmmmmm.
By Nick
September 17, 2011 11:13 AM | Link to this
Everyone has their own opinions, but me, and everyone that I could see was blown away by Kanye. The entrance was amazing and he kept me entertained the whole show. One of my favorite performances I’ve seen at ACL in the 2 years I’ve attended.
By Meghan
September 17, 2011 11:38 AM | Link to this
The first 2 acts blew me away, but I started heading out during Runaway when I was losing interest. I like how he brought back old school stracks like “Through the Wire” and “All Falls Down” Great performance overall.
By Adam
September 17, 2011 12:29 PM | Link to this
The show was great and the ***** on the dancers were amazing!!
By Adam
September 17, 2011 12:30 PM | Link to this
The show was great and the ***** on the dancers were amazing!!
By Summer Anne
September 19, 2011 12:51 AM | Link to this
How exactly does the crowd at music festival’s reaction to songs mean anything about the quality of those songs?. Yes, his older material, which might be the only songs of his many festivalgoers have heard, got a louder reaction. But his incredible, critically-lauded new material? The stoners near Pete Mongillo thought it was weird, so obviously it’s not as good… By the same logic, I guess Phish is the best act to ever play ACL and The Dark Knight is the best movie ever made? What’s popular is best? At a FESTIVAL? Come on!
Also, Louis, Jay Z and Kanye are doing a huge WTT tour together starting next month. I’m sure Yeezy wanted to take the opportunity to do his own material and to prove himself alone on stage. I thought it was awesome that there weren’t guest rappers. It just reminded me that he is the best rapper in the world right now. I’ll see him and HOVA in Houston in December, it was cool to see Kanye be Kanye at this show.
By David
September 19, 2011 2:47 PM | Link to this
I thought the show was freakin amazing, I was more pissed by the crowd that were pushing and shoving to get close to see him, but didnt know any of the words to alot of his songs, if your going to make that type of a**hole move to get a good look at an artist you better at least know the words to his songs… example(hell of life) I think I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN A 10FT RADIUS WHO KNEW THAT SONG!!!!
By Magnus
September 19, 2011 10:32 PM | Link to this
While I’m not normally one to listen to his stuff, he put on an AWESOME show. Egomaniac? Absolutely. Helluva performer? Absolutely. Seriously, when did being an egomaniac knock someone out of the ability to put on a great show? How about Elton John? Jimmy Buffett? Eddie Van Halen? Steve Jobs? Some of the world’s biggest pricks by accounts but doesn’t change the fact they are fantastic showmen. Give Kanye a break. He downright rocked it.
By DENNISL59
September 20, 2011 7:24 AM | Link to this
Do you like Fishsticks?
By MarcoFromHouston
September 20, 2011 1:50 PM | Link to this
Kanye did his thing. The show was great. I enjoyed his “Glow in the Dark” tour back in 2008, loved this show, and am excited about the Watch The Throne tour.
He started to sing one song from WTT, and quickly said “**** that! Y’all gotta wait for the tour!”