So far Kanye is def in the running for best concert ot the year.  It lived up to all its hyped times 10, heres a quick rundown of the evening.

The show must have started @ 730 sharp because me and my friend got there around 745ish and had already missed most of Lupe Fiasco's set.  He was doing "Streets on Fire when we got to our seats (yeah were sitting on the stairway to heaven for this one, but it wasn't as bad as I thought, I kinda forgot that the Garden is set up so that no matter where you sit you'll have a good view of the stage without having to rely on the giant screens up top). We caught the tail end of "Daydreamin" & "Superstar"w/Matthew Santos.  Lupe was good lots of energy and his background singer (who looks a lot like Keyshia Cole) sounded great.

LUPE FIASCO/DAYDREAMIN
DISCLAIMER: OK this is cam that I used for the E. BADU/THE ROOTS showso it makes everything seem extra far away + the sound is extra sketchy but it is only a camera that just happens to record video (I'm not frickin Rik Cordero I can't make magic with a low budget) AND the vid quality got extra crappy after I uploaded it to youtube


Next up was NERD.  I'm not sure exactly what the first couple of songs were that they did because I couldn't catch what Pharell or Shay were saying but they did do "Lapdance", "Spazz", and "Everybody Nose".  I didn't get some vid from "Spazz" but the sound got messed up and you can't hear it,  overall they were ok.  Had about 5 extra people on stage with them and with no introduction it was hard to tell who they were.  I did however notice Teyana Taylor on stage jumping around with the fellas (how can you not notice her).  I was kind of hyped to see them but I wasn't too blown away by their performance.  It's obvious that Pharell is the lead man but for some reason his mic seemed lower than everyone else's or it could just be his voice.  They did have a live band performing with them & they were on point, both of their drummers had a little battle of the drums and that held my attention.  No matter what Pharell is still on my "Can possibly father my bastard children" list and he def can get it. Moving on!


Next up was Rhianna.  Now everybody knows that I wasn't thrilled to see her performed but I must say she did a great job ifo one of the toughest crowds in the world.   She's a bit stiff when it comes to some of the dances but overall she killed it.  I never thought of her as much of a singer but she sounds good live.  She is very pretty and I LOVED her outfits!  She stayed with the whole "lost in space, futuristic theme". My fav was her cross between the MJ Beat It red leather jacket/Madonna breast cone bra thing & football player shoulder pads.  She performed her big hits including "SOS", "Pleas Don't Stop the Music" & "Unfaithful". What won me over was her medley of Beanie Man's "Who Am I" , MIA "Paper Planes" (WHAT!! Who gave her permission, that's my song and I was shocked at how many ppl knew it) and Lauryn Hill's "That Thing"...very nice touch Rih Rih. 
The kicker was her performance of "Umbrella" in which she brought out surprise guest CHRIS BROWN for the remix!  What's even funnier is my reaction (you had to be there).  I didn't know who he was at 1st because I was so busy trying to play videographer to the world (it was all caught on tape for your enjoyment below) but it was a great treat.  I hear he had a party for his 19th bday in the city after and Rhianna was there in full effect standing by her man (awww young love). Anyhoo, Rhianna did great, I'm still not a huge fan of hers but I'm a bigger one than I was on Monday

RHIANNA/CHRIS BROWN UMBRELLA RMX



30 mins & a partial fight in the ladies room btw drunken hot females (all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom lol) later  we are in outer space.  The lights drop the crowd screams and the show begins...
Kanye is laying on the stage.  His spaceship just crashed in an unknown location at an unknown date and time.  The only other person he can communicate with is his female robot friend named Jane (who looks very creepy floating around on stage)  who goes on to tell him that he is the brightest star in the universe and such.

KANYE WEST/HEARD EM SAY


Kanye never came out of character and he was the ONLY person on stage.  I mean no backup singers, dancers, special guests, the band was even set up below and damn near under the stage.  He opens the show with "Good Morning" and in no particular order he did "Thought The Wire", "Spaceship" which is 1 of my all time fav's it used to get me through the day when I had sucky jobs, "Gold Digger", "Heard Em Say", "Good Life" "Can't Tell Me Nothing", "All Falls Down", "Diamonds from..." "Flashing Lights" and whatever other major hit he's had out in the past 3 years or so.

KANYE WEST/FLASHING LIGHTS (Lots of smoke & screaming lol)



Highlights include his performance of "Hey Mama".  Kanye stayed in 1 spot for almost the entire song and when he finished for the 1st and only time in the entire 90 plus mins he was on stage he walked to the corner of the stage and sat for a breather with his head in his hands while the crowd sang along to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"...classic.
Of course "Stronger" was amazing"  it's just the energy and build up to the song that makes it that much better AND for his last song "Touch the Sky" he brought out the 1 and only other person to share the stage with him that night Lupe Fiasco which was a nice surprise. 
It's cool that he stuck to his major hits that everybody can relate to.  Don't get me wrong I would have loved to see him perform 2 WORDS, NEVER LET YOU DOWN or even ROSES to name a few but sticking to the hits made it that more easier for people to vibe with him. 

KANYE WEST/GOLD DIGGER (sound KICKS IN at abt 9 secs)



OVERALL the concert was frickin awesome, I can't stress it enough.  I love the fact that Kanye choose to take advantage of today's technology and give his fans a show worth every penny.  Come on how times can you see a show where all the performers does is pace back and forth do a couple of dance numbers take a bow & chuck the deuce?  Kanye took it a step further and raised the bar that much more for every other artist out there. The screen explosions, sky/space effects, "spaceship"/ floating "Jane" all added to his lost in space theme.  You actually felt like you were taking the journey with him.  I love the fact that he didn't allow the press in the garden to take any special press pics lol maybe that's why the daily news tried to slam him in their review today (gotta love your haters). 
Ushers were passing out free copies of Kanye's Book "Thank You and You're Welcome" after the show, gotta chance to read it on the train today and it's pretty cool actually gave me a few thoughts about my book of poetry dropping...soon
So far everyone I've talked to who went has the same exceptional feelings about it as me, except those who are older than I (like 20 years older).  I tell them it's the best concert I've been to so far and they think I'm crazy.  They can't fathom 1 man being able to create something better than Woodstock or Diana Ross in  Central Park or whatever other monumental concert it was that tickled their fancy in their youth and I don't expect them too.  My generation knows what's up and apparently so does Kanye.  Thank you and You're Welcome.

KANYE WEST/CAN'T TELL ME NOTHING (sound KICKS IN @ abt 18 secs)