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On being assumed into Kanye West’s Ultralight Beam performance art

Published 11:30 am Thursday, October 20, 2016

By Steven Graham

On being assumed into Kanye West’s Ultralight Beam performance art
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On being assumed into Kanye West’s Ultralight Beam performance art
Kanye West beholds the throng of eager fans during his Saint Pablo tour concert Oct. 19 at Seattle’s KeyArena. His stage was a suspended platform that moved above the arena floor. (Steven Graham photo)
As if ready to be taken up in an ultralight beam, fans behold the lighted wonder underneath the mobile stage during Kanye West’s Saint Pablo tour stop Oct. 19 in Seattle. (Steven Graham photo)

Burn the date October 19th, 2016 into your memory.

It was a Wednesday and it was the day that Kanye West brought his Saint Pablo tour to Seattle and took full control of KeyArena.

Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin'” at KeyArena in Seattle from Everett Herald on Vimeo.

He did it on a floating platform of a stage the was suspended over the general admission area and resembled some sort of spaceship at times. The hanging stage moved all around the arena making sure there really wasn’t a bad seat in the house.

He did it in an arena filled with smoke and nothing but a dull yellow light shining down on him never fully revealing himself to the crowd. Even in the camera shots that were on the big screens he remained a distorted blur. You couldn’t tell what he was wearing, but you wanted it. Hell, ’til he started talking in that way only Kanye West can talk, I wasn’t even sure it was him.

He did it while at times actually doing nothing at all. Seriously. A track from his most recent album, “The Life Of Pablo,” would play and he would just stand on the stage while the crowd sang every word and he just watched. Then everyone in the audience would clap for him while losing their minds. I don’t understand it, but it was awesome.

He even did it while bumming everyone out to stop the show to rant about the political climate of the music industry. Apparently there will never be another “Watch The Throne” album with Jay-Z because West and Jay-Z, also known as Beyoncé’s husband, were unable to collaborate on the Drake track “Pop Style” due to issues between Tidal and Apple. Oh, and Jay-Z didn’t want to hurt Meek Mill’s feeling (singular).

While that made national news today, it didn’t really matter last night. It didn’t matter because everyone in the building wanted the Kanye West who was killing his image and apparently his bank account to give the world the art he believes in more than anything else. That’s exactly who we all got on Wednesday, October 19th, 2016 at KeyArena.

Love him, hate him, or really hate him, Kanye West continues to set himself apart as one of the most influential and powerful artists and performers we will ever see. He proved it last night with a performance that was 90 minutes of fairly minimalist amazing something. He proved it last night and we never even saw his face.

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