Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour Goes Above and Beyond

Summer is the best time of year for music lovers because it's the time when artists go on tour. If you're going to see one concert this year, go see Kanye West's Glow In The Dark Tour. This show was surrounded by a halo of hype from the get-go. It received stellar reviews all around. And when Entertainment Weekly gave the show a B+, they got an earful from West himself who wrote on his blog: "What's a B+ mean? I'm an extremist. It's either pass or fail! A+ or F-!"

As soon as the concert began, it was already miles above any other concert I've been to. At 7:00 pm on the dot, just like it said on the tickets, the lights were out and Lupe Fiasco was starting his set. When was the last time you didn't have to wait two hours before the artist decided it was time to come out? Lupe Fiasco was the first pleasant surprise. The performance was simple but energetic. And even more impressive than the rapper was his backup singer, Matthew Santos. You probably know him as the guy who sings the chorus in the hit, Superstar. His voice perfectly complemented Lupe Fiasco's rapping style in more than half the songs.

Next up was N.E.R.D with their unique brand of rocking hip hop. They had the crowd on their feet with hits like Lap Dance and Rock Star. What made their performance spectacular was the ridiculous amount of energy. Fronted by Pharrell Williams, the entire band jumped around and banged their heads enough for the entire audience. At the end of their set, they brought up some people from the audience to dance with them onstage, the ultimate way to end a great performance.

Holding her own with all the boys was singer, Rihanna, who performed mostly hits back to back. Her dancers rounded out her performance under a black light with giant glow sticks. Her performance was a little more elaborate and choreographed than the preview two with raised platforms for her dancers and moving scaffolding. She even managed to squeeze in a costume change into her half hour set.

Finally, the man of the hour came on stage. Kanye West did the entire show solo on stage with no dancers and with the band hidden under the stage. His performance was unlike anything I've ever seen because simply put, it had a plot. His songs were used to take the audience on an interplanetary journey. He began lying on his back on a giant screen that he performed on for most of the show. The screen was tilted forward along with the rest of the stage that resembled a mountainous terrain.

On his last mission in space, his ship had failed and crashed. The sun rose above the mountains on a giant wide screen behind him as he began the show with "Good Morning." His only friend out there was the computer named Jane, who made several appearances throughout the show. With little hope of fixing the spaceship, Jane gives him hope by reminding him this isn't the first time he's crashed. Cue "Through the Wire" which he recorded after a car accident while his jaw was wired shut.

The entire show went on in a similar fashion with each song given meaning in the context of the galactic extravaganza. It was perfectly timed and paced with hard hitting hits like "Gold Digger" and "Get 'Em High" interspersed with more poignant numbers like "Jesus Walks" and "Hey Mama," which had more than a few concertgoers tearing up. Even if he hadn't been completely alone on stage, with all that energy and emotion, all eyes still would have been on him.

Of course, this is Kanye West, so a good amount of ego stroking was expected and he delivered. When he met an alien being, a talking mannequin, on his journey and he introduced himself she replied with: "Of course we know who you are, you're the biggest star on the planet." And even among the pyrotechnics and multi-colored fire rising from the stage, it's hard to deny that he was shining the brightest.

He performed his monster hit, "Stronger," when his spaceship is fixed and he lifts off on his way home. With spaceship-like lights flashing around the center screen and smoke emerging from under it, the stage rose. With images of stars flying by behind him, he brought it home. As an encore, he performed "Homecoming" and "Touch the Sky" with Lupe Fiasco.

Even with all the buzz, this show is impossible to hype too much because no matter what you are expecting, you will be wowed. From the lineup to the stage design, everything in the show was perfection. Now I know why anything less than an A+ would be offensive.