Live Review: Kanye West, Pusha-T

13 September 2014 | 11:11 am | Deborah Jackson

"When the shit drop, you can run, you can push whoever is next to you, just make a circle'". Whatever you say, Kanye.

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Last night's Sydney performance was everything you would expect from the self anointed God of rap, Kanye West.
 
From the moment the lights dimmed and a dark, menacing beat dropped, with one man band, Mike Dean playing The Imperial March on a guitar, the atmosphere was set, and the crowd battled to get closer. The stage was an elaborate set of smoke, lights, pyrotechnics, and an impressive floor to ceiling screen mirroring every move, that could only be pulled off by a man with an ego large enough to dub himself 'Yeezus'.
 
Rising from beneath the stage, bathed in red light and wearing an intimidating, yet theatrical jeweled mask, West set the pace early with a powerful combination of Black Skinhead, I Don't Like, and Mercy. The audience participation almost negated the need for any backup, with West owning the stage, and the crowd singing most of the backup in I Don't Like and Heartless. Pusha T, who opened the night, joined West on stage for Runaway sending the crowd into hysterics, which were only amplified when West initiated us into his Clique.
 
It wouldn't have been a Yeezy show without a rant or two, and the great man didn't let us down there, yelling at the lighting guy for missing his cue at the end of Diamonds From Sierra Leone, threatening to restart the song, saying it was borderline outrageous, and demanding he do better tomorrow. There was an awkward moment where West requested everybody to stand up, and pinpointed two people still in their seats, ranting it was the longest he'd ever had to wait, before realizing they were in a wheelchair and launching back into Good Life.
 
Pushing and shoving was encouraged, with West getting everyone on the dance floor to make circles, saying 'when the shit drop, you can run, you can push whoever is next to you, just make a circle'.
 
West played Blood On The Leaves twice, and Niggas in Paris three times at the end of the show, as he kept encouraging the crowd to go wild. There was no shoutout to his wife Kim K, who only appeared in the audience for two songs, Gold Digger and Bound 2.
 
That shit was cray.