derekx

I got there way too early. I arrived to the Nokia Theater in LA at about 2 pm. Little did I know, they weren't allowing people to park until 4pm. I had 2 hours to kill and didn't want to pay to park. I drove around — passing the Convention Center, USC, and other places. I made my way to MacArthur Park and slept there for an hour. Time came for me to park at the venue. I pull up to the garage and bam! $20 damn dollars! That is ridiculous, but what can I do, I had to pay it. I get to the front of the venue and there are maybe 20 people there.

Two hours pass and I'm walking in. The usher asks to see my ticket and then smiles and says, "Walk all the way down to the first two rows." I was a bit confused. My ticket states that I was row 5. I get to the front and ask another usher to help me find my seat. She directs me to the front row and I was in shock! I had no idea I would be that close. I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the night.

After about an hour waiting — Lupe Fiasco was up. He played a mixture of new and old songs. The highlight was definitely the excerpt of "Kick, Push." The extended version of S"uperstar" was a close second favorite. Unfortunately, his set was short and the crowd wasn't too into them. Lots of empty seats. I guess it will always be cool to be fashionably late.

Next up, N.E.R.D. I've never really listened too much of Pharrell's band. I wasn't really sure what to expect. Their set consisted mostly of radio hits. I recognized a few of the songs. It was really cool seeing them play "Rockstar." I haven't heard that song in years! After their set, Pharrell comes towards me, shakes my hand as I reach out, then runs through the crowd followed by two members of his band. Everyone was going crazy trying to touch this man. N.E.R.D. was great, but now it was time to "stand under her umbrella ella ella eh eh eh."

Rihanna was something I wasn't really looking forward to. It did turn out better than I expected. I'm glad they embraced the glow in the dark theme for the night. Rihanna and her dancers were all wearing bright neon colors that brightened when the right amount of light hit them. The light sabers were pretty awesome. There goes the geek in me ... ha! Overall, it was eh, I could've done without her.

Wake up Mr. West we have a world to save. It was finally time for the one we all had been waiting for — Kanye West. Kanye and his spaceship, Jane took us on a Journey across the universe. Earth was wrecked and the only one who could save it — Kanye. We flew through the stars and we were hit by a meteor. Crash landed on an unknown planet and encountered an alien. We repaired and made our trek home. Then we encountered a loss of power, but we find the strength to power our way back home. Once we enter our atmosphere and touch the earths sky, Lupe Fiasco joins Kanye on stage for a great performance of "Touch the Sky." We finally landed. The set list consisted of many greats, lots off of Graduation. "Hey Mama" gave me chills. "Stronger" was insane. The crowd was in a frenzy the whole time. Kanye did not disappoint.

If this tour makes a stop in a city near you, don't miss it. Accept the mission and take the journey.