Kanye West, Koko, review: 'the crowd went absolutely crazy'

On a freezing London night, a queue stretched down Camden High Street and round the block: 1500 fans waiting for hours in the cold to see the world’s most controversial rapper. At 7.30pm on Tuesday Kanye West announced a surprise London club gig. A queue had formed by 7.40pm. Doors were supposed to open at 11pm but stayed resolutely shut until well after midnight. By the time the audience were admitted, many seemed on the verge of hypothermia, and, I think it is fair to say, were in a volatile mood.

“I’ve just spent £100 I don’t have,” shrieked a girl radiating cold. “He better turn up!” Another girl found a dark corner and nodded off to sleep. The throng jammed in front of the stage sang aggressive football terrace chants and belligerently demanded music.

When West finally came on at 1am, the tension in the room exploded into something entirely joyous. The American star delivered a slam-bang, stripped-back, hardcore hip hop set amid a rowdy posse of UK Grime rappers and A-list American guests including Big Sean and the Wu Tang Clan’s Raekwon.

_{Fans queue for Kanye West's suprise performance at Koko (REX FEATURES)}

West had swapped his usual elaborate artiness for a low-tech presentation, restricted to a slideshow of religious medieval woodcuts which allowed him to pull Messianic poses in front of images of the crucifixion. There was little evidence of either the nuance and subtlety that has helped set West’s music apart, and he said nothing between songs, forgoing his usual forays into paranoid ranting, perhaps because he knew he was among firm believers. He just gave the people what they wanted, banging out hit after hit to head smacking, body-shaking beats whilst jumping up and down and grinning manically.

The crowd went absolutely crazy. The place was practically heaving with excitement. They held their hands in the air, filmed on mobile phones, crowd surfed, recited lyrics in unison and sang out choruses. They were uproariously enthusiastic whenever homegrown heroes such as Skepta, Meridian Dan and JME interspersed West’s set with local hits including That’s Not Me and German Whip, while West prowled the stage behind, nodding to indicate his approval of (and, indeed, participation in) Britain’s own very distinctive hip hop scene. And they practically self-combusted with glee as West ripped through straight-down-the-line, simplified versions of Cold, So Appalled, New Slaves, Power, All of the Lights, Black Skinhead, Good Life and more. Having debuted his new single All Day only at the Brit Awards, it is already so firmly established in his canon that it was greeted like a greatest hit, with the audience enthusiastically chanting along.

West didn’t attempt to sing any of his autotuned ballads, while his rich chords were barely perceptible in a mix that emphasised battering-ram drums and sub-bass that could vibrate your inner organs. This was music of weird, futuristic electro intensity, with rhymes peppered over the top like blasts from a verbal shotgun. Where band leaders might guide musicians with eye contact and head gestures, West controls his set with throat-cutting gestures to two men on laptops in the wings.

As an outsider to the scene it is impossible not to note aspects of ritualised banality, though perhaps you could say the same of most pop scenes. At times there were up to 10 men on stage, all dressed in black, whose only purpose seemed to be to look delighted to be there. There was no choreography, just a kind of round shouldered bouncing and shambling, dipping up and down, waving salutes, and occasionally shouting into microphones in unison.

It was very masculine and occasionally very aggressive. It made me cringe inside to witness Big Sean’s puerile, sexist chant of “B------, I don’t f--- with you” being picked up enthusiastically by an audience of whom half were young women. It seemed out of place at a show headed by one of the most progressive artists of the genre.

Nonetheless, this thrilling performance was a bravura celebration of the most vital pop form of our times. From a local perspective, it was about West demonstrating his affinity with London’s hip hop community, and then showing everyone how it can be done a little bit better. West departed the stage at 2.40am, leaving behind a dazed and delighted crowd. Afterwards, the girl frozen in the queue was flushed with giddy excitement. “My entire life has peaked tonight! Nothing will ever be as good as this!”

Watch the full, uncensored version of Kanye West's All Day, performed live at Koko, at Rajiv Dattani's YouTube page.