RECAPSaintPabloTour
Date- September 12, 2016
Before you die, you must see Kanye West live in concert, and I don’t think many people would argue against
it. He’s an extraordinary artist that has transcended genres and culture, and he’s still managing to do so even as
he’s easing into his 40s, well past his prime. His last tour was 3 years ago: The Yeezus Tour. I will always be proud
to say that I attended that tour when I was 16, and I often regard it to be the best concert that I’ve ever been to.
Everything about the Yeezus Tour was remarkable, from the unforgettable merchandise to the premiere of his
VSOC’s (Visionary Stream of Consciousness) that were unique to each city. It was a legendary period of his career as an artist struggling to still break barriers and expand his influence.
Three years later, Kanye is in a better place, with not as much to prove. He has a lot of the things that he griped
about on his Yeezus Tour like acceptance in the fashion industry and backing from Adidas. Yet Kanye has continued to create and innovate in a way that is unparalleled by other artists. That is not to say that Kanye West is
perfect, and the Saint Pablo Tour is a representation of his imperfection.
The Saint Pablo Tour was centered on a revolutionary idea that struggled to live up to its conceptualization on
paper: a floating stage. By now, you’ve probably seen the videos or heard the stories about how grand and amazing the stage was, and believe me it was truly a spectacle. Being that Kanye’s set was almost 2 hours, my Kanye
concert expectations demanded more than just a spectacle. At the Yeezus tour, Kanye had a lot of freedom that
was sacrificed during the Pablo Tour for the floating stage aspect, ironic because the Yeezus Tour was about
seeking artistic freedom while this tour was essentially a celebration of Kanye’s newly found artistic freedom.
Chained to the middle of the levitating platform, Kanye couldn’t go too far. And although it served as a safety
precaution for the artist, it limited his movements. Needless to say, that didn’t stop Kanye from really showing
off his dance moves, but that along with the stage got old after the first half of the show. However, the neat thing
about Kanye West is that he can find a way to make the most boring and insignificant things cool, so he used his
restraints to make a statement. Time to time, he would go as far from the center of the platform as his connection would allow him, and he would struggle to move even further, perhaps a hint that he still feels limited as
an artist to this day. The stage began to irritate me after a while due to its slow, lackluster movements. Although
it elevated Ye creatively and statically, it distanced himself from his fans in a way that was less obvious than him
sitting on top of a mountain, and that’s what truly bothered me about the show.
With that being said, my perspective of the concert is probably drastically different from anyone who attended
the concert with floor tickets. The floor was going wilder than I’ve ever seen in a stadium tour. A legitimate mosh
pit that never waned in energy, the floor attendees sacrificed a constant view of Kanye for an unforgettable experience. The idea that everyone in the arena didn’t get the same show is slightly annoying as well, especially coming from an artist who constantly preached about universal access and unequal treatment during his VSOC’s.
Speaking of which, the VSOC was Ye’s final chance to really sell me on the tour. Roughly 5 minutes and not as
inspiring as I had hoped, Ye actually let me down. This is coming from someone who listened to the Yeezus Tour
Atlanta VSOC almost every day for two years. It is still on my iTunes as I’m writing this article. Kanye , who has
always inspired me to shoot for the stars, left me uninspired for the first time in my life.
And that was my general consensus regarding the Saint Pablo Tour in general. Almost every aspect of the tour
seemed uninspired except for the crazy concept that his stage was floating above the crow. In terms of innovation, I was impressed with Kanye. But in terms of a good ass show, I feel like he came up short. When comparing
it to the Yeezus Tour, which was a very balanced tour that featured a nearly 2 ½ hour set from the headliner, I
feel like Kanye finessed me. In exception to the dope rollouts of a few of my favorite Kanye cuts like “Stronger,”
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” and “Waves,” there weren’t many highlights for me. Here was my favorite artist of all
time just chilling on a floating stage while he basically played his music from an aux cord. Yeah the lights moved
and changed colors and the stage didn’t stay in the same position, but what did Kanye really do that was different
from any other artist? With unexplained quiet pauses, awkwardly unnecessary intermissions, and an uninspiring
VSOC, the Saint Pablo Tour left me unexpectedly unmoved. Kanye sings “I’d be worried if they said nothing” on
the concert opener, “Father Stretch My Hands Part 1,” but he needs to be worried if fans are leaving his tour feeling nothing. I left the show kind of upset (partly because a drunk girl spilled beer on my overpriced tour merch
though, so it’s not entirely Kanye’s fault), but I’m still grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to see Kanye West two
times in my life.
The Saint Pablo sounded like a great idea to me, but it was a lesson in practicality for me and hopefully the
artist bringing his tour from city to city. I hope along the way he inspires someone the same way he inspired me
on December 1, 2013 at the Atlanta stop of the Yeezus Tour because that is what makes Kanye West’s tours so
special.
-Rosh Jobin
photo cred: Jake Heffez