A masked Kanye West performing Runaway at Rod Laver Arena. Credit: Patrick Sexton
Kanye West was at his enigmatic best as he tore up his second Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night.
Rising from the bowels of the arena wearing one of his now customary masks, West’s entrance preceded a remixed version of The Imperial March from the Star Wars saga.
He then launched into Black Skinhead from the tour’s title album Yeezus, and from that moment on the sold-out crowd was treated to what will surely go down as one of the concerts of the year.
On a stage soaked in red lights with a minimalist design inspired by his latest offering to the music world, the super-producer kept up the aggressiveness by ripping through a selection of tracks from his 2012 compilation album Cruel Summer.
The energy given off by West rose exponentially as he branched out further into his burgeoning discography, then the tempo slowed with a heartfelt rendition of crowd-favourite Runaway, complete with an appearance from opening act Pusha T.
Famous for his concert monologues, West didn’t disappoint as he spoke his mind on his image in wider society and how we won’t allow himself to be controlled by the media.
After a retreating off stage, the arena doused in blackness, the 37-year-old emerged once more kicked the performance to a whole new level.
Clearly loving his interaction with the raucous masses, a smiling West took a trip down memory lane as he belted out hits such as Touch the Sky, Good Life and Gold Digger one after the other.
As you’d expect for one of the best rappers from our generation, his delivery and flow were flawless throughout the night and got even better during the encore.
Here, West played Blood on the Leaves twice, instructing the mosh pit to form massive circles each time so the rowdier members of the audience could jump into each other and really “go in” as the beat dropped.
With hysteria levels reaching boiling point, West raised the roof with his final song for the evening, N***** in Paris, which he repeated three times until he was satisfied his adoring public had got their fill.
Whether or not you like Kanye West the man, shows like this make it hard for anyone to knock Kanye West’s mastery as an artist and performer.
4.5/5 stars
