Over the course of Kanye West‘s illustrious career, the rapper has almost always polarized the public.
It’s a trajectory that looks set to continue with his ‘Saint Pablo Tour,’ which launched last night at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Because, in a bold move, the Hip-Hop titan performed the entire show from a floating stage. Yes, a floating stage.
Pics and clips await below…
The self-loving star took being the centre of attention to literal new heights with the unique setup.
For, while many names have dabbled with such technology in a “b-stage” capacity, none of have staged the length and breadth of their show from such a platform.
Time will tell how the other stops on the Stateside trek respond to the move, which ultimately finds West perform above them.
As for us, we’re loving the creativity. Yet we can’t help but feel there’s more to the story.
Indeed, while the industry moves at a rapid rate these days, it’s important to remind that West’s latest album (‘The Life Of Pablo’) is the worst performing of his career – following an odd release strategy.
Uncaged in February as a TIDAL exclusive, the set was not made available to purchase traditionally. Instead, its wider release months later simple saw it serviced to other streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.
That move facilitated a historic #1 on the merit of streams alone. But, following that victory, the momentum seemed to evaporate. Because, as at writing, ‘Pablo’ has only “sold” 220,000 equivalent album units. Hence, the LP is nowhere near Gold, Platinum, Plastic or Foil.
Put simply, one has to wonder if the jaw-dropping, yet ultimately stripped back spectacle is more about recouping budget than truly upping the live show ante.
Hey, maybe it’s both. What do you think?