:: Kanye West - Festival Hall, West Melbourne - March 2006

By: Saeed Saeed

What can you say about Kanye West that hasn‘t been reported already? The man can do it all. He is the Quincy Jones of hip hop, producing more hit singles in the space of a year than others can do in their whole careers. He is also a successful solo artist whose last album, 'Late Registration’, possesses the best production this humble reviewer has ever heard. Not to mention the fact that he has an ego the size of cruise ship and a mouth to match. Kanye West never fails to polarise critics; he is labelled a mad genius in one article and just plain mad in another, but at a packed out and ever so sweaty Festival Hall we had nothing but love for the man and his beautiful collection of soul infused hip hop.

The stage was first warmed up by two of Australia's rising stars, Perth's Chenelle and local boy Daniel Merriweather. Accompanied by her backing dancers Chenelle delivered a three-song set that showcased her impressive vocal range. Unfortunately, the songs themselves deserved better attention for they all sounded generic and that is an ominous sign if she wants to break in to an already saturated market. Merriweather may have known this for in his solid six-song set, backed up with three vocalists, delivered a more soulful performance that held the crowd's attention. The story going around is that Kanye West was so impressed by Merriweather's voice, which channels early Stevie Wonder that he booked a studio in Australia to work with the promising youngster. Merriweather left the stage confidently, knowing that he made an impression on his home town.

Just after 9.00pm the lights dimmed down to the ecstatic approval of the crowd and Kanye West‘s string section arrived on stage. The crowd shrieked in excitement when the harpist played the opening notes of 'Diamonds of Sierra Leone’ and that‘s when Kanye took to the stage and began what would be a blistering performance. Armed with his huge sunglasses and jewellery, West was all energy as he bounced from one side of the stage to the other. He immediately followed this up with 'Heard'em Say’ and ‘We Don't Care’ and the crowd were with him the whole way. Through out the set he sprinkled in songs from his first album ‘The College Drop Out’ but he gave more attention to ‘Late Registration’ and rightly so. That album gave us more of an insight into Kanye West and the songs that he performed from that album showcased the different layers of his complex personality, from the introspective ‘Drive Slow’ to the thoughtful ‘Roses’ and to the sweet ‘Hey Mamma’. All of these songs were delivered with unwavering enthusiasm and just that little hint of tongue in cheek that characterises so much of his work.

Then the big surprise arrived when fellow Chicago artist Common took to the stage and joined Kanye for the anthemic ‘Get'em High’. Common, who a couple of months ago graced us Melbournites with an intimate performance at the Prince of Wales, proved that he can also rock arenas. He joined Kanye for four more songs, a highlight being ‘The Corner’, a gritty track from his latest solo album, ‘Be’.

Kanye then took over the stage again and surprisingly dropped ‘Gold Digger’ midway in the set and the crowd responded wildly, rapping every word. He finished the set with a message to ‘stay strong and believe in yourself’ and concluded a great evening with his latest anthem ‘Touch The Sky’.

Ironically, what left the greatest impression on me was not Kanye‘s performance, albeit fantastic. The defining moment was when he told his tour DJ A-Track, to play some of the songs that still inspire him till this day. Of course, in that medley there was the soulful sounds of Al Green and other Motown legends. But what was most striking was that he also played AHA's 'Take On Me’ to the laughter of the crowd. Kanye wasn't smiling though. He looked at the crowd and told them in all seriousness that he absolutely loves that song.

That's what sets Kanye West apart from many hip hop artists today. Kanye follows his muse wherever it goes and doesn't pay attention to any fashion or music trends. Kanye is not just a man that loves hip hop music. He is a man that loves all music.