Kanye and Jane Land at MSG
There was no avoiding Kanye's epic and ego boosting Glow in the Dark Tour as it rolled through New York this week. The hip hop space opera was one for the ages, walking the fine line between Spinal Tap and R. Kelly in terms of the laughing at/with ridiculousness; it included campy stage props, dry ice, and holographic strippers. The concept's absurdity was breathtaking: Kanye crash lands alone on an alien planet, with only his female talking spaceship, Jane, alongside him. He needs "star power" for the spaceship to launch again, since he's the biggest star in the universe, he is able to power up and get the ship back home. Kanye might not win a Pulitzer for the story, but that's not to say it wasn't mind-blowingly enjoyable.
Glow in the Dark Openers
It's worth mentioning Kanye's impressive stable of openers, considering the trio could have likely filled MSG themselves if touring separately. The night kicked off with an energetic Lupe Fiasco, who ran around a stripped down stage with several backup singers and a DJ to an extremely receptive audience. His singles were greeted with roars from the crowd, and chants of “Lupe” echoed through the arena once he finished. He was followed by N.E.R.D., who seemed quite popular for no particular reason other than Pharrell being sorta famous. The band has always been noteworthy for falling in between the usual preconceived rap/punk/rock genres, but rather than feeling fresh and different, they instead seemed a little lost. Finally, Rihanna topped off the opening acts, playing a worthy pop set, with no shortage of backup dancers and backing vocals assisting her throughout. She's perhaps one more album away from having the material to really headline a major tour on her own, but for a hits-packed 30 minute set, with her own style of futuristic space props, she completely owned it. A surprise appearance by Chris Brown for the Umbrella Duet/Remix capped a great start to a memorable night.
My Chemical Arena Rock
MCR often gets labeled as emo, and, in fairness, that is not an unreasonable take on the over-dramatic Jersey rockers. But with the Black Parade, and their growing successes, they have transcended the previously pithy genre into an entirely different beast. Rather than embracing their roots and becoming “the next Nirvana,” they're become more like the new Van Halen. And this is not a bad thing. At Madison Square Garden last Friday, they concluded their 2 year long tour support of The Black Parade, riling up a near-sold out crowd with anthems from their last two records. There were more fist pumps than tears in this grand finale, sealing the stamp on a new hybrid genre they've helped define. Its easy to mock and dismiss teenybopper acts like these, but it is shows like these that prove there will always be a place for over-the-top arena rock, and there will always be an audience to soak it all in. Right now, few can match MCR’s shameless bravado.
Photo of Kanye West at MSG via athletemovie.com's flickr.
