Shrouded in a dusky orange and yellow light, West appeared as a silhouette for much of the evening as he bounced, careened and postured on his stage, which occasionally dipped to an angle as if daring the rapper to slide down. He offered a rapid-paced career retrospective while zeroing in on the spiritually tinged material that makes up his latest album, “The Life of Pablo.” But the music was almost secondary to the night - not helped by clangy acoustics inside the Joe - as the hovering stage, drifting fog and sublime lighting provided their riveting visuals.īIG GIGS: Brian Wilson, Sigur Ros, James Bay, more There’s also no getting around that he’s been a progressive figure in the realm of live hip-hop production, continually refining his presentation and upping the artfulness each time out.Īs West said at one point during the concert - his first within the City of Detroit since 2005 - the guiding spirit is “the idea of having ideas, of having dreams.” West is an artist who invites either deep respect or revulsion, and for better or worse, that polarizing effect is what’s helped him remain one of the most consistently interesting characters in pop culture this past decade. He made himself inescapable, and gave himself no escape. Here, turning himself into the singular focus while leaving himself no way out, Kanye made a crafty creative statement on the nature of his peculiar, occasionally self-sabotaging public life. Playing the latest stop on his Saint Pablo Tour, West ratcheted up a theme first glimpsed on his 2013 Yeezus Tour: the performer starkly alone on a stage, fearless but vulnerable. LISTEN: Thornetta Davis, "I Believe," exclusive debut The rapper presented a 100-minute art piece Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena, manning a small stage that floated and glided over the main-floor crowd in one of the most innovative concert productions you’re apt to see. This time, Kanye West went big by scaling it down. View Gallery: Kanye West brings Saint Pablo Tour to Joe Louis Arena