Bravado was replaced by self-doubt and dissatisfaction. Most meaningful was the brooding tone of the music, created in the aftermath of his mother’s death and following the unhappy end of a serious romance. Instead of rapping, West mostly sang with the help of Auto-Tune, a technological trick some feel is an irritant, but bent to his own needs. Released in 2008, 808s & Heartbreak was only his fourth album but was seen as a huge departure, named in part for the iconic drum machine (the Roland TR-808) and inspired by Eighties synth pop. The Kanye West who appeared at the Bowl was a man in command of the art and message of his most personal work. It’s not because of endless TMZ footage of him passing though airports or award show melodrama. It was also an entirely triumphant night for West, and a reminder why we keep paying attention.
There was purity in that, even if that was cold comfort to someone who just spent $30 on Bowl parking. There was no encore of hits, no “Gold Digger” or “Jesus Walks.” The night was dedicated entirely to a particular piece of music and a particular point in time, and fans arrived to find printed programs with a “libretto” of lyrics waiting in their seats.
Kanye 808s and heartbreak hat full#
Kanye was onstage for just an hour and stayed true to the concept, performing 808s & Heartbreak in full and nothing else. Amid the blazing electro-beat of “Welcome to Heartbreak,” he questioned the value of material things: “My friend showed me pictures of his kids/And all I could show him were pictures of my cribs.” Performing the album in order, Friday night began with “Say You Will,” as West sang to a woman painted gold at center stage, with fireworks to underscore the heat within these sometimes agonized tunes, created before marriage and fatherhood. The first of two sold-out nights, it was a high-profile event, with a gaggle of Kardashians seated by the soundboard, including wife Kim, cell phone in hand. All were dressed in white beneath the Bowl’s massive clamshell. Friday night at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, Kanye West let his music speak loudest, leading a rare performance of his 2008 opus 808s & Heartbreak, an eccentric, minimal album now considered among his greatest achievements.įor an album built on little more than drum machines and Auto-Tune, West brought what seemed to be a cast of hundreds, including a full orchestral string section, background singers, an electronic band and 14 women dressed in solemn chador-style garments.
0 kommentar(er)
