Kanye West truly dazzled his audience during his “The Saint Pablo Tour” on September 3rd at T.D Garden. Boston fans were first treated to a pop-up shop on Boylston Street on August 19th. The store, which was open for a short 3 days, sold clothing inspired by West’s most recent album “The Life of Pablo”. In addition to t-shirt with lyrics printed on them, the store included military jackets and baseball hats designed by West himself.
The concert itself was a few weeks later on September 2nd. The start time of the concert was delayed by about 2 hours but when audiences arrived at the venue, the reason was clear. The backdrop was sparse. There were no backup dancer or set decorations. It was only West on a floating stage, chained to the stage for his own safety. One has to wonder if that was a type of metaphor considering Kanye West’s combination of devotion to his art and artistic process in conjunction with his less than flattering media interactions. It was clearly a symbol for the isolation of fame. Despite being surrounded by thousands of Boston fans, in the end, West was floating on the stage, alone.
In his typical fashion, West took a long break during a song in order to deliver a long auto tuned monologue to the audience. The content was primarily about self-loving, the media and and living in the moment. However, as lampshaded by West himself, Bostonians were treated to “the internet censored version” of the speech. West mixed highlights from “The Life of Pablo” with his own classics including “Jesus Walks” and “Heartless”. The innovative light performance and the energy of the audience kept the show invigorating and extraordinary. The only people who might love Kanye more than Kanye himself are his fans.
