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LAist had the distinct pleasure of attending the Kanye West show Saturday night at Gibson Amphitheater. Now we must admit we missed Keyshia Cole and Fantasia and went straight for the main performance. Kanye went on around 9:30 and proved why loving him is no bandwagon but the real thing. College Dropout became an instant classic and in our opinion, Late Registration is not far behind.
Image from Kanye's Golddigger video from Buzznet.com/fobchemicalreg
From the show opening "Touch the Sky" to "Hey Mama" and "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" all the way through "Jesus Walks," Kanye made his performance interactive and the crowd was on its feet. We drank and danced and celebrated the most innovative concert we've seen in quite some time. Visually beautiful, lively and compelling, Kanye was feeling the Los Angeles love with an amazing group of guests that joined him onstage making the duets from his album come alive throughout the entire concert. There was a seven-piece orchestra onstage for entire show as well a turntables and a small band. Guests included Common, Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Patti LaBelle and Jamie Foxx. Mysteriously Brandy was missing from the show, and after the all-star performances, we thought surely she would come out for "Bring Me Down" thinking she could use the exposure, but she was nowhere to be seen.
As a venue, Gibson is a chameleon, taking on the character of whoever is performing. LAist has seen punk metal, bluegrass, acoustic and hip hop shows here and is always impressed. The acoustics carry very well and with its U-shaped seating, there is not a bad seat in the house. On the outside however, parking can be a bit of a mess. LAist got lucky with backstage passes and VIP parking but found ourselves waiting for over 30 minutes in the valet line after the show and after the free booze stopped flowing (don't worry we weren't driving). This wait was eased by the fact that we had Jeremy Piven on one side and Quentin Tarantino on the other, but still it was cold outside, baby.
Interested in checking out Kanye live? He hits up Irvine tonight and San Jose tomorrow. His tour concludes New Year's Eve in Vegas.
