Photos by Ebru Yildiz

"Honestly, when I listen to radio, that ain't where I wanna be no more," said Kanye West during a brief-but-potent bit of banter in the middle of his Governors Ball set last night, talking about his unconventional, radio-single-free marketing strategy leading up to his new album Yeezus. "At this point, I could give a fuck about selling a million records, as long as I put out an album that you can rock to all motherfucking summer." And based on the five new tracks played last night-- "New Slaves", "Black Skinhead", and three others-- it's probably good that he doesn't have his sights set on multi-platinum status this time, because Yeezus is shaping up to be his most outré album yet. The previously unheard songs were all about desperation, ice-pick synths, and convulsing drums, something like a hyperkinetic version of 808s & Heartbreak's relatively dour robo-paranoia.

They punctuated a set that was heavy on Kanye's darkest and most serious hits: "Power", "Heartless", "Jesus Walks", "Can't Tell Me Nothing", "Say You Will". Even the night's three sing-along moments did not center around your typical "all together now!" fodder, instead touching on thoughts of suicide ("Power"), betrayal ("Heartless"), and hopeless douchebaggery ("Runaway"). Things got a little lighter for "Good Life"-- but then West cut the song off short, admitting he had forgotten a verse. Generally, though, his focus was as vivid as the orange-and-blue fighter jets that often backed him on huge screens.

Speaking of those Jumbotrons, when they did show West performing, he was presented as a set of ghostly trails that built up on top of each other. At one point during the 100-minute set, the tripped-out filters fell away to show him crisply-- but he quickly noticed the change and requested "a new look." The trails returned, breaking up his image once again.

Setlist:

"Black Skinhead"

"New Slaves"

"Mercy"

"Cold"

"On Site"

"Can't Tell Me Nothing"

"Power"

"I Am a God"

"Jesus Walks"

"Say You Will"

"Heartless"

"Flashing Lights"

"All of the Lights"

"Clique"

"I Don't Like (Remix)"

"Good Life"

New Song

"All Falls Down"

"Stronger"

"Diamonds (Remix)"

"Runaway"

"Black Skinhead" (yes, he played this twice)

¬© Ebru Yildiz 2013

¬© Ebru Yildiz 2013

¬© Ebru Yildiz 2013

¬© Ebru Yildiz 2013