Rolling Quiet: Is this what fans can expect from Ye's concerts from now on?

Kanye West may have appeased his most die-hard fans last night at Rolling Loud, but he likely didn't win over the millions of skeptics who were open to giving the “Carnival” rapper another chance after his behavior over the past two years.

When the Vultures 1 star took the stage at Rolling Loud on Thursday night (March 14) at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. Most didn't expect West to apologize for the offensive, anti-Semitic comments he's made over the past few years.

However, he failed to do the one thing more than 50,000 fans had come out and expected him to do: perform his music. Instead, he and Ty Dolla $ign, his collaborator on his new album, Vultures 1, took the stage without microphones and danced, vibrated and waved their hands while tracks from the album played over the loudspeakers. In fact, neither artist rapped, sang or spoke during the performance, which took place during the opening night of the annual hip-hop festival.

Despite West's and his fans' insistence that Thursday's performance was high art, most fans left the hour-long show disappointed and confused.

“Did I just get tricked?” Gloria Appel, 22, of El Segundo, California, asked her group of friends as they walked back to their cars. One of her mates offered that if anything, it was fun to dress up with friends and go out for the night – prompting the group to chuckle nervously before leaving.

There's a bigger performance art aspect to the show, Ty Dolla $ign suggested in an interview he and West gave to radio personality Big Boi for XXL released this morning but recorded before Thursday's show. “It's even better than other people's shows that have a microphone,” Ty said during the chat.

What does it mean to 'run' a concert in 2024 when DJs play pre-recorded mixes and singers sing over backing tracks? Over the past two months, Ye and Ty have made millions hosting “listening parties” around the world — essentially the same thing they did on Thursday night — in the process generating some praise and a lot of press for West as he tries to once again revive his career. He also puts cash in Ty's pocket, who, at Vultures 1 track “Paid,” raps appropriately: “I'm here to get paid.”

The same clip was reposted Thursday night by The Rolling Loud team, which has spent weeks avoiding details about the show. What was communicated to the fans was that the concert was to be different from the listening parties. During an X Spaces fan session on February 28, Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Sherif told attendees, “I'm fully prepared for Ye's appearance and Ty Dollar $ign's performance. Whether they decide to grab the mic or not is up to them. This is what they have agreed to do.” Then, for the sake of clarity, a spokesperson for the festival confirmed with Advertising sign that West and Ty Dollar $ign “were contracted to perform a live performance.”

Even if West and Ty Dollar $ign didn't rap or sing, they clearly invested the kind of money associated with a big concert. There were dozens of directors and production members and house executives furiously directing the set as the artists wandered on and off the purpose-built in-the-round stage, which was wedged between the bright red exterior lights of the KIA Forum. and the finer points of the multi-billion dollar SoFi stadium. During the set, West wandered around the stage in a black jacket and a face mask Vultures 1 tracks played over the festival's massive sound system. After he and Ty Dollar $ign left the stage for good, an offstage DJ continued, playing about 30 minutes of Kanye classics, including “N* in Paris”, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and “All the Lights”.

Most of the fans watched the performance without any visible reaction, although some clapped in moderation at times. From the start of the show, it was not clear what was happening on stage, and by the time it ended at around 10pm, about half of the fans in attendance had already run out. Those left behind took their time walking the extra-long fence maze back to their cars, with many saying that while the show wasn't what they expected, it was what they expected. Kanye wasn't talking to them anymore, one fan noted, and probably wasn't listening.

Not exactly a huge endorsement for West, who has hired the former coach John Monopoly and is planning a world tour for 2024, according to a recent Advertising sign report.

After Thursday night's confusion, one thing is clear: If West isn't going to perform live at his future shows, he should be more transparent about it. While he certainly entertained at least some of his fans, he did so with minimal effort and, before the show, made no effort to disavow rumors that he planned to sing and rap.

As West told Big Boi during his interview, he believes most fans come to his events “just for the experience.” He also noted that he wants to create more call-and-response style songs with the audience at his shows, but didn't explain how he could do that without speaking on stage. He said a highlight of past listening parties has been hearing attendees mimic the wailing chorus of “Carnival,” noting that fans have come up with their own chant: chanting “F— Adidas!” after the cobbler cut ties with him in 2022.

As for which artist would open future concerts, West had a unique suggestion.

“Smoke is like an opener with the lights themselves,” he told Big Boi as Ty Dolla $ign nodded his approval. West probably meant “haze,” the industry term for the smoke effect created by spraying glycerine-based liquids with mineral oil. West is certainly right about the substance resonating with fans. As many in the business say, the fog effect has almost no downside – it's here to be sprayed.