A flock of about 6,000 Kanye West fans and singers converged Friday on his hip-hop revival at Detroit’s Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, scene of the rapper’s latest Sunday Service concert.
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West arrived with wife Kim Kardashian and their children after 1 p.m., rolling up backstage in a Chevrolet Tahoe.
Kardashian perched by an onstage organ as a stirring swell of gospel voices filled the venue on a gorgeous autumn afternoon on Detroit’s riverfront. Three buses’ worth of choir singers from West’s hometown Chicago worked the stage, while hundreds of local singers were seated throughout the amphitheater to bolster the impact.
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The hoodie-topped West was in the thick of the onstage festivities as the choir served up gospel numbers (“Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory,” “Our Lord, How Excellent”) and West’s own “Ultralight Beam.” Drawing a roar, the rapper stepped out front to drop a verse on “Father Stretch My Hands.”
The event had come together quickly: Free tickets for the show were grabbed up in minutes Thursday, days after West’s team registered a contingent of Detroit choir singers to join him for the gospel-style show.
Outside the Aretha, fans had arrived as early as 5:30 a.m., including people who had come from San Francisco, Canada and Chicago.
The concert had been scheduled to get under way at noon, but ultimately kicked off at about 1:40 p.m.
Venue manager Shahida Mausi, who got the first call from Kanye’s team Monday evening, described a hectic week of preparing for the event. The amphitheater was already closed for the season, which prompted a quick scramble to reboot the facility — staffing, security, production gear — in a matter of days.
Just 13 months ago, the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre — the riverside venue then known as Chene Park — was host to another high-profile, quickly arranged event with global interest: a tribute concert on the eve of Franklin’s funeral.
— USA TODAY