Kanye West – Glow in the Dark Tour!!!!

I knew from the get go, Scranton was going to be rocked off it’s axis by some great talent. As soon as the opening acts were mentioned, tickets were sold out 24hrs later! Who would be performing? Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, Pharrell Williams and N*E*R*D! Rumour had it that Chris Brown was going to be in attendance.

I headed out the door, ticket in hand, wearing boots, jeans, kanye west t-shirt and a jacket and of course an umbrella in tow, just in case.

I entered the gates at Toyota Pavilion, Montage Mountain to be greeted by a crowd of no less than 10 000. I’ve never seen such a huge crowd come out for any concert before. Well, this was not just another concert – this was THE Concert of the Year!!!

I made my way to my assigned seat and eagerly chanted along with the crowd “Lupe! Lupe! Lupe!” The synthesizers with blaring guitars started, then the curtain dropped and Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams with N*E*R*D started their 4o minute set. I must say that Mr Williams is probably a better producer than he is a front man but his enthusiasm was INFECTIOUS. He certainly got the crowd engaged. We were not just the crowd but we had become part of the performance. It felt good.

Just towards the last song, guess who makes a cameo appearance….none other than CHRIS BROWN, Rihanna’s luvmuffin! His dance skills were electrofying. It is confirmed that Michael Jackson can now permanently retire as the new king of dance has arrived! He was MAGNIFICANT!!! The young girls in the crowd got on their chairs and screamed out “we love you Chris Brown”, to which he responded ” i love y’all”

There was a brief intermission which left me to get to know those sitting around me. To my left were 3 guys from New Jersey that had driven 4 hours to take part in the concert and to my right were local guys who looked more like heavy metal wannabe’s than hip hop appreciators. Nonetheless, all agreed so far that the show was one of the best of the year!

Intermission Break ended…it was Rihanna’s turn to entertain the crowd. In true Rihanna style she looked ravishingly GOOD. Her first ensemble was a designer Black wedding dress and thigh high leather boots! As black-leather-clad dancers followed her around the stage, she belted out hits like “umbrella” and “don’t stop the music” that sounded almost exactly like they do on the radio.

I’m not a fan of Rihanna, to be honest…Shes’ got decent pipes but it seemed this performance was more about style than substance. Still the crowd didn’t seem to care a wink, singing along the entire way. Her 4omin set was good and she made as many as 3 costume changes. Love her hairstyle!

After Rihanna’s performance, the curtains went up, lights around the stage dimmed down and just silence. After waiting for close to 30minutes the crowd got restless and began to chant “kanye, kanye, kanye”

The main attraction certainly kept us waiting in anticipation – true Kanye style.

When he arrived, what an arrival it was! The curtain dropped on a stage elaborately decked out to convey an outer space motif, with big screens flashing images right out of “Star Wars”. Then the female voice of a computer named Jane began issuing instructions to Kanye, who was lying on a platform flanked by large mounds.

After Jane instructed Kanye to “wake up”, the rapper slowly rose. Dressed like Luke Skywalker, he promptly dove into the opening verses of “good morning”. other than the production itself, the most striking thing was Kanye was out on the stage by himself. If there was a backing band, they were well hidden. It was ALL about KANYE and his clever, innovative rhymes.

Next came the throbbing beat of “i wonder”. We screamed and pumped our fists in the air while swaying in unison. He had us mesmerized at the word go! I can’t remember what songs followed…I was totally hypnotized by Kanye.

What a performance! Kanye is arrogant and usually I don’t agree with his political opinion but i have to give him the respect he deserves. He is a musical genius!

By far one of the best concerts I’ve attended!!!