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Kanye West wows crowds with his innovative flying stage – Metro US

Kanye West wows crowds with his innovative flying stage

Kanye West vs. Amber Rose: Yeezy’s ex strikes back
Derek Kouyoumjian/Metro

We’ve all heard of “raising the roof.” But what about raising the stage?

Kanye West brought along his ridiculously awesome flying stage for the Boston date of his Saint Pablo tour Saturday, and it was even cooler than it sounds, which is to say: seriously, unbelievably, crazy cool.

The stage, suspended overhead by four cables, moved throughout the floor of the TD Garden arena in Boston Saturday night, giving fans the experience of a rotating front row that offered a much more intimate experience than a conventional — and now seemingly quite lame — anchored stage typically provides.

West’s platform was also suspended, sometimes only a few feet, above the free-for-all general admissions section of the arena’s floor, prompting a roaming mass of fans that followed the superstar as he was transported about.

His setlist in Boston borrowed often from his recent “The Life of Pablo” album, but also included a number of major fan-pleasers from throughout his discography, including earlier favorites like “Jesus Walks” and “Touch the Sky.”

The typically loquacious West may have disappointed some fans expecting a major rant or another George W. Bush/T-Swift moment, but the artist assured fans it was all part of the plan: 2016 was a great year to be a Kanye West fan, he said, so the artist was just keeping his comments “Internet proof” out of respect for his fans.

“Y’all get a free year” from defending him, he jokingly told the crowd.

West did take one major break to address the crowd during an mid-song interlude during his performance of “Runaway,” in which he shared some folk wisdom with the crowd that likely had a familiar ring to some of the more devoted parishioners of the Church of Yeezus.

“The media, from when you’re a little ass kid, tells you not to love yourself,” West said. “They take something out of you and try to sell it back to you, like that Benz you buy yourself out of college. Or that townhouse. Something that you’ve been fighting for your entire life and it was taken from you as a child, that you always had inside of you. And that’s self-love.”

Then, with his voice auto-tuned to the looping piano accompaniment, Kanye started to sing.

“They teach you not to love yourself, but if you don’t love yourself how can you love someone?” he sang. “That’s why I love you so much, ‘cuz everybody knows I love me so much.”

Buddy…we love you right back.

West will perform at Madison Square Garden in New York on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 5 and 6.