Photograph by Nabil Elderkin courtesy of Rizzoli
Before U2 went 360 and Madonna was Sticky & Sweet, Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour raised the bar on multi-sensory arena experiences with gigs that were one part eye-popping light show, one part art exhibit and, most importantly, one part incredible concert. With Rihanna, N.E.R.D., Santigold and Lupe Fiasco as openers, West took the show from North America to China and Europe, and now fans can get a glimpse of the MC’s exploits in the massive 300-page Glow in the Dark book, featuring impressive pictures by tour photographer Nabil Elderkin.
Get a look at choice shots from Glow in the Dark.
Elderkin explains West allowed him fly-on-the-wall access to even his most private moments because they’d connected early in the producer/MC’s career in Chicago. His book includes rare candid shots of West, Rihanna and the tour’s big names, as well as snaps of West’s risqué 808s and Heartbreak listening party and an interview between West and director Spike Jonze that serves as a narrative. (Sample exchange: “Do you watch porn every day?” “Every day.”)
With a bird’s-eye view on West’s creative process, Elderkin has a unique perspective on what would have West’s next major project — the Fame Kills Tour with Lady Gaga — and he reports the show was going to be massive. “He was going big. It was going to be something very interesting and very big,” says Elderkin, who was already shooting the show’s early production stages when it was canceled. “And hopefully will, when the time’s right, something will come out. He spent a lot of time with his designing and conceptualizing of that. Lots of different Moog boards and stuff. He put a lot of detail and work into putting...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily