Lets start by saying that words can’t do justice to the spectacle that is Kanye West’s Yeezus tour. It would be like trying to describe the “wow” moment you get when you stare up at the top of a skyscraper from the sidewalk below, purchase buy cialis or walk by a gigantic cruise ship docked in the harbor. Every element was bigger and more impressive than anyone could have expected.

There was a three-story tall mountain that dominated the stage. There was a platform that lifted West far above the arena floor. There was a cast of actors and actresses, pyrotechnics, and even fake snow that blanketed the crowd during “Cold”. The event had as much in common with long-running Broadway productions and Vegas Cirque-du-soleil acts as it did a traditional arena show. It completely justified the high ticket prices and all the recent postponements.

Kanye had called the stage set-up an “expression of emotion” during a visit to Harvard’s Graduate School of Design earlier in the day, but also admitted it had its flaws. Save for a momentary blip on one of the video screens – the entire production seemed pretty flawless to me.

With so much time, effort, and energy put into the overwhelming visual experience, you’re probably wondering how much all of these bells and whistles detracted from the actual musical performance. Luckily, it didn’t. Instead it complemented Kanye’s already legendary flair for the dramatic.

From the second he stepped on stage to “On Sight” to the final notes of closing number “Bound 2”, Kanye displayed a swagger and energy normally only seen in heavyweight boxing champions, Oscar-winning actors, and real life cowboys. It was a performance made possible by his unwavering confidence in his ability to captivate an audience.

It was as if he was holding an imaginary string and using it to pull the crowd closer and closer with each song.

The two hour set featured 28 songs in all, as well as a number of between-song skits (if you could call them that), one of which began with a church procession emerging from a crack in the mountain and ended with Kanye standing at a white “alter” and playing the opening keys to “Runaway”. It sure sounds absurd on paper, but by that point in the night nothing seemed too outrageous.

With his latest tour, Kanye has taken the songs from Yeezus and his back catalog and brought them to life on stage. He’s effectively set the bar for every other big touring act out there. Instead of rising to the occasion, I’m guessing most are simply going to raise the white flag and acknowledge Kanye as music’s #1 showman – which was probably his goal from the very start.