05.23.08

Sophrosyne: The sound minded Kanye West knew what he wanted, how he wanted it done, and how to execute it. Every detail had felt like he had delt with it personally. I have never seen another artist try so hard to deliver such an incredible performance. Thank you Mr. West, and thank you for the very personal artist book that was given out after the show titled “Thank You, And You’re Welcome.” The artist book was very well done; Kanye speaks the TRUTH. As an artist I really appreciate all the hard work and effort that was put in, because let’s face it, presentation is everything. ‘Ye appropriated the concert experience to the art form that it’s supposed to be. Mixing a phenomenal “theater” experience w/ his spine chilling records booming through the UC was quite the experience. “Graduation” is really the album that kicked off all of this out of the box ingenuity for the music business, especially the two very artistic “Flashing Lights” videos which blew my mind. The show deserves a 5 star rating for the 5 star performances from Lupe & FNF, N.E.R.D. Rihanna, and Kanye West. [Max G.]

Lupe Fiasco kicked off the show with “The Coolest” over the “Let There Be Light” Justice beat, as expected and it was even sicker live! That got me right into it as he brought out the lovely Nikki Jean for “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” and “Little Weapon” with Bishop G gettin’ in his verse. The highlight of Lupe’s set was “Go Go Gadget Flow” as he sped through the Chicago-inspired hit at an even faster break-neck speed, dropping the beat for the 2nd verse and going a capella at like 1000 words per second it seemed. Haha, the crowd got really into it and fed off the energy from Lupe and his guests and that moment was just ridiculous. “Paris, Tokyo” took on an interesting sound as Sarah Green provided the chorus and a beautiful solo 2 conclude the song, wow. Her voice was booming! Lupe then introduced the Chicago electronic duo, He Say She Say, as they performed “Crash Dummie”. I loved it and was prolly one of 10 people in the UC who knew the words, but I hope others came away impressed. Matthew Santos was the next guest 2 arrive as Lupe & himself performed “Fighters” followed by “Superstar”, which the crowd went nuts for! And then Lupe fittingly ends his set with “Daydreamin’” as him and Bishop G just lost it on stage with Santos and Sarah Green providing some backup vocals, setting up the stage for N.E.R.D., Rihanna, & Kanye West! (Such a beautifull daayyy…!) I’ve seen Lupe Fiasco LIVE 3 times now and I’d have to say that this was my favorite of the 3 as he brought the perfect amount of energy to kick off the show, gave us a couple surprises, and perfectly organized the song order and guest list, allowing his fellow FNF artists shine in such a big spotlight…although no GemStones for Friday night :(. The United Center finally filled in by “Superstar” and its energy did not dip one bit as after a quick 15 minute intermission, N.E.R.D. came out and straight up rocked the house. Pharrell & Co. were simply goin’ crazy, hitting their groove with “Rock Star” and continuing with “Spaz” (featuring a surprise dance performance from Chris Brown!), then “Lapdance”, “Everyone Nose”, & their biggest hit (so far) with “She Wants To Move”, bringing up some lucky ladies in the first couple rows to ‘move’ on stage. They got myself and the crowd a lil’ more active as we were swaying, spazing, jumping, and just going crazy by the last few trax! After a lil’ longer intermission, out came Rihanna, who had her moments on stage, jumping from hit 2 hit. I thought she did pretty good and was relieved that her voice didn’t sound significantly different than on the radio; it’s just that… for most of the crowd, I would think the energy dropped off a little bit, especially after Lupe and N.E.R.D. and the anticipation for Kanye. While I liked Rihanna’s set, it just didn’t seem 2 fit, but I suppose that’s debatable since she definitely had the crowd going for “Don’t Stop The Music” and her finale, “Umbrella”. Just one more intermission and out comes Kanye West on his futuristic space set 2 “Good Morning”. It was almost surreal at first for me and it took me a few trax 2 fully appreciate what I was seeing. He jumped through track to track with no breaks and a sick storyline where his spaceship crashed and his control center dying. The organization was pure genius. He gets on his “Spaceship”, performs the song, cuts it off as the spaceship is crashing, and bam! “All Falls Down”! The beginning/middle of his set included many hits like “Diamonds” (wow @ looking at the whole crowd w/ the diamonds in the sky), “Flashing Lights”, & “Through The Wire” 2 name a few. I was lovin’ these performances but had this unsatisfied feeling in the back of my mind… like I know he’s still got somethin for us. He finally hit “Hey Mama” and as expected, the emotional performance even further ignited the crowd as the United Center got a lil more louder than ‘loudest’ when Kanye motioned for the crowd, singing “I wanna scream so loud for you!”. Whoo, and so begins the “chills” segment of Kanye West’s set. Up next, as I correctly predicted, “Stronger”! Stadium status right there. Everyone was going 2 lose it, we all knew it was going 2 be something special, and Kanye delivered! “Is this what you’ve been waiting for?” was the embedded theme on ‘Ye’s chorus’ as he was spazzing on his suddenly higher, spaceship platform stage. Magnificent. Up next he came up with “Homecoming” as the preceding “Hey Mama” and “Stronger” catapulted him and his spaceship for their return 2 Earth! And of course, being in Chicago, “Homecoming” had an even greater, special meaning. When Kanye got 2, “And if you don’t know by now, I’m talkin’ bout CHI-TOWN!”, there’s no way the hometown crowd was lifted 2 another level (unless u were the 40-yr old lady a couple rows in front of us with Stronger shades, no one else sitting w/ her, and no reaction at all, haha!). ‘Ye ad-libbed a couple “It’s my town! CHI-Town!” lines in the subsequent chorus and we were at the palm of his hand! For his grand finale, Kanye was now able 2 “Touch The Sky”, which again carried greater significance for us as fellow Chicago boy Lupe Fiasco came out 2 another huge ovation for his 3rd verse. My personal favorite moment came at the end of Lupe’s verse with the lines, “Now let me end my verse right where the horns are like, uhhh!”, as Lupe, Kanye, AND Tibs jumped up with the exclamation point on a fantastic concert! Wow, what a great feeling. The last 4 songs were Kanye’s best performances IMO and left me shakin’ well afterwards. Kanye introduced his helpers on the night and left us all with a personal, emotional, and uplifting message that u can see parts of in the recapped YouTube video below! Also, check out the tracklist of the performances in order from Lupe Fiasco & Kanye West! [Sgt. Tibs]

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Glow In The Dark - Chicago Recap

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Lupe Fiasco LIVE @ Glow In The Dark Tour 05.23.08

01. “The Coolest Vs. Let There Be Light”

02. “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” f/ Nikki Jean

03. “Little Weapon” f/ Bishop G & Nikki Jean

04. “Go Go Gadget Flow”

05. “Kick, Push”

06. “Paris, Tokyo” f/ Sarah Green

07. He Say She Say “Crash Dummie”

08. “Fighters” f/ Matthew Santos

09. “Superstar” f/ Matthew Santos

10. “Daydreamin’” f/ Bishop G, Matthew Santos, & Sarah Green

Kanye West LIVE @ Glow In The Dark Tour 05.23.08

01. “Good Morning”

02. “I Wonder”

03. “Heard ‘Em Say”

04. “Through The Wire”

05. “Champion”

06. “Get ‘Em High”

07. “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”

08. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”

09. “Flashing Lights”

10. “Spaceship”

11. “All Falls Down”

12. “Gold Digger”

13. “Good Life”

14. “Jesus Walks”

15. “Hey Mama”

16. “Stronger”

17. “Homecoming”

18. “Touch The Sky” f/ Lupe Fiasco

***NOTE: Neither Lupe or Kanye did every track in its entirety. Correct me if I’m wrong on the order, but I’m almost positive that it’s all correct! [Sgt. Tibs]

05.24.08

From Left 2 Right: Max G., Nikki Jean, Sgt. Tibs

We went over 2 Saint Alfred’s for the last-minute meet & greet with one of our favorite up and coming artists - Nikki Jean! We were greeted warmly right away, and had a good chance to meet face to face with such a good interviewee and talented artist. It is refreshing 2 see an artist give back like this and put forth a lot of effort 2 give fans like us a chance to not only meet her but get to know her as a person. She was so nice and warm 2 everyone and we wish her nothing but the best of luck in the future cuz she flat out deserves it!

GET 2 KNOW NIKKI JEAN MORE WITH OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FROM JANUARY! CLICK HERE!

(Note the first official Limited G (Max G.’s clothing line) shirt with the GWHH logo in glow in the dark paint, which aspired a certain glow at the tour. Chyea!)

Finally as a bonus below, check out YouTube-piano sensation David Sides as he plays the Lupe Fiasco mega-hit - “Superstar”! Enjoy! [Sgt. Tibs & Max G.]

David Sides “Superstar (Piano Cover)”

~ Sgt. Tibs & _Max G_