Flashing lights

Kanye West plays Cincinnati

Saw Kanye’s Glow in the Dark tour on Friday. Why? Because I think his latest album Graduation is awesome and I was looking forward to a big fun show, a spectacle.

I suppose it was delivered.

Big LED screen with animations = check
Smoke, some pyrotechnics = check
Flashing lights = check

Potential spoilers: In addition to all these big fun show features, there was an inflatable doll with breasts and a godzilla-like creature—all wrapped up in the context of Kanye’s spaceship crash landing on an unknown planet while his onboard computer…

Hold up.

None of this matters and maybe you don’t want to hear about it.

It was an fine show. Pricey… (though I can see how such a production isn’t a cheap endeavor.) But it was too loud, and the sound was muddied by the echoey arena.

The visuals didn’t add up to much. The band was on this rising platform that kept going up and down for reasons unknown to the audience.

Don’t get me wrong, Kanye rapped and sang his heart out, working his tracks over with tremendous sweat and bearded energy. But ultimately he seemed distant on his makeshift planetary platform and I don’t see how this experience was any better than watching it at home in high definition. At least I wouldn’t have had guilt about not waving my hands in the air.

I don’t mean to sound all bummed, but I was really hoping Kanye was going to glow.

On the flipside, I had a blast with my friends and the view from our seats was nice.