On September 8, Kanye West plays DC for the first time since 2013 with a Verizon Center show in support of his new album The Life of Pablo. Tickets go on sale on Saturday morning at 10 AM, giving you approximately 24 hours to decide whether you’re willing to spend $165 to see him up close. If you’re still mulling it over, though, here are five things to know about the show.
It’ll be a theatrical and visual spectacle:
When Kanye played in DC in 2013 on the Yeezus tour, he brought with him a fake mountain, a 60-foot circular LED screen, and a crew of performers who followed him around onstage while wearing white robes. So what if Hamilton isn’t coming to the Kennedy Center until 2018.
He’ll play the hits:
His Yeezus tour setlist may have been split up into five ridiculous arcs titled “Fighting,” “Rising,” “Falling,” “Searching,” and “Finding,” but Kanye didn’t skimp on breaking out the oldies, performing everything from “Through the Wire” and “Stronger” to “Jesus Walks” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”
He’ll go an epic rant:
A Kanye rant is somewhere between a soliloquy and a slam poem, and at his 2013 show, he delivered one of his most defiant ones ever.
He’ll reference his 2020 presidential run:
This one’s more of just a guess, but DC would definitely be the right place to drop more details about his “campaign.”
