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On Monday, March 4, the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona announced the VULTURES LISTENING EXPERIENCE on March 10 - tickets on sale March 5 at 10 am. Word quickly got out and my friends and I quickly made last-minute plans to see Ye and Ty$. If you've been keeping up with Kanye West recently, you would know he's been doing these "listening experiences/parties" in major cities across Europe and The United States. Paris, Italy, New York, Chicago, and after last night, Phoenix, AZ. Unexpected? Absolutely. Despite short notice, it didn't take very long for the Footprint Center to have a sold-out show on their hands - and Phoenix showed up.
Despite the excitement, I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. Kanye has an unfortunate reputation for showing up late, canceling shows, or ranting nonsense for extended moments during his concerts. Even with that in mind, my friends and I realized this might be our only opportunity to see Kanye live, even if he doesn't perform or sing any of his songs. So we bought the tickets knowing the potential Yeezy flight risks.
I was not the biggest fan of VULTURES 1 up until this point. For some reason the album felt rushed, similar to DONDA, and I just wasn't sold on the project as a whole. After hearing the album in a stadium, I understand it now - it was meant to be played as loud as possible. My car unfortunately can't bear the weight of the bass on many of the songs, so I was missing out on what the album was supposed to sound like.
Kanye, Ty Dolla $ign, and North West took the floor. They danced as the songs played, North followed her dad's lead, and even announced her upcoming album "ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DROPOUT" - Adonis Graham has yet to respond. The rest of Kanye's kids were seen running around and dancing to the music that made for wholesome moments.
Ye and Ty$ performed all of VULTURES 1 and a good chunk of VULTURES 2. My friends and I recognized 070 Shake, Future, and Kodak Black. From what we heard, V2 might top V1, easily. Just as things seemed to be winding down, Kanye started to play his greatest hits. "Jesus Walks", "Father Stretch My Hands pt. 1", "Runaway"... pretty much all of the favorites. Ty Dolla $ign also got to play some of his bigger hits like "Or Nah", "Blasé" and "Paranoid". The two walked into the lower sections with the crowd causing a lot of commotion and energy across the stadium (vicariously living through some of my friends who were in those lucky sections and got videos super close to Kanye).
After the greatest hits played, Kanye rallied up the West kids and walked back into the tunnel while Ty$ said goodbye to the crowd a few more times. And just like that, it was over. Although North was the only one who spoke into the mic the whole night, the experience surpassed my worried expectations. All that's left now is to see when VULTURES 2 will drop and if they'll keep doing listening parties as venues continue to book his show.
Are you ready for VULTURES 2?
-Josh "DJ Wheezy" Alvarado
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