The Glow in the Dark Tour was the third concert tour by American rapper Kanye West, in support of his third studio album, Graduation (2007). West shared the first tour dates across the United Kingdom in September 2007, while he later announced the American leg in January 2008. He engaged in precise tour rehearsals and enlisted Jim Henson's Creature Shop for production of his set, with design handled by Esmeralda Devlin, Martin Phillips, and John McGuire. West mostly performed music from his first three studio albums and incorporated work on later legs from his 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak; the songs were re-arranged by the touring band to have a more melancholy sound. The concerts followed a space opera concept that saw West traveling in his spaceship Jane and then performing on a desolate planet, where he sought more power towards the end. The tour began in London on November 22, 2007, travelling across the United States, South America, Europe, and Oceania until its last show in Brisbane on December 7, 2008. West made a tour stop at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival, although delays faced to his set caused a negative backlash.
West was supported by Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., and Rihanna for the tour's US leg in the spring of 2008, while he was later accompanied by acts such as Consequence and Kid Cudi across Europe. The Glow in the Dark Tour received generally positive reviews from critics, who frequently highlighted its space theme. Some praised West's skill as a performer, although a few critics found the tour repetitive. It grossed $30.8 million from 49 shows, marking the third highest-grossing hip-hop tour for 2008. The tour was sponsored in the US by the Absolut Vodka brand, whom collaborated with West on a retro commercial that showed tablets which transformed others into him. Nabil Elderkin published various tour photographs in his book, Glow in the Dark (2009).
Background On September 5, 2007, West announced the Glow in the Dark Tour in promotion of his third studio album Graduation. The tour was set to run its first leg from November 21–26, spanning seven dates across the United Kingdom. The first show was supposed to be a two-night concert at Hammersmith Apollo in London, until West moved it to the city's O2 Arena on the night of November 22, 2007, as a result of heavy demand. West was precise in rehearsals for the tour, which was rumored to have caused problems in his relationship with Alexis Phifer. The design for the set was done by Esmeralda Devlin, Martin Phillips, and John McGuire. Devlin had previously handled the design for West's Touch the Sky Tour (2005–06) and later served in that role for the Watch the Throne Tour (2011–12) and The Yeezus Tour (2013–14). On January 30, 2008, Kanye posted to his blog that he would be embarking on a tour leg for this year across North America, in the wake of the UK stint's success and the death of his mother Donda West. He announced the support acts of fellow rapper Lupe Fiasco, band N.E.R.D., and Barbadian singer Rihanna. Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco had previously collaborated on the 2007 song "Us Placers" with Pharrell Williams under the supergroup Child Rebel Soldier, while the two rappers and Rihanna were among the award recipients at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. West teased his tour set-up to his US audience at the ceremony by wearing a flashing LED jacket and luminous shades, with neon lighting covering the stage.
In February 2008, West's label Def Jam announced the North American tour dates from April 16–May 30. The label also issued a statement that Rihanna would be absent from the shows in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Albuquerque, New Mexico during April 2008. That same month, West revealed that he enlisted Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the company whom built the Muppets, for production of the set. For the Glow in the Dark tour's first US show at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on April 16, 2008, Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, and N.E.R.D. had 30-minute sets each, succeeded by West's 90-minute set. In August 2008, West announced dates across the UK for November. Following a show at The O2 Arena, the rapper wished for normalcy rather than being "under scrutiny and paparazzi" on the tour, expressing that he missed his mother and had "sacrificed real life" for his career. From October 17 to December 7, 2008, West visited Mexico, South America, Europe, and Oceania for four legs of the Glow in the Dark Tour. He was supported by the likes of Mr Hudson and the Library, Consequence, Tony Williams, and Kid Cudi for the leg across Europe, while Nas accompanied him for shows in Oceania.
Concert synopsis
For the concept of the Glow in the Dark Tour's concerts, a space opera theme was used. West came from an elevated platform that transformed into a spaceship named Jane that he piloted, embarking on a mission to "bring creativity back to earth". He traveled through the universe in his spaceship as smoke and flashing lights follow, before becoming marooned and hitting a meteor storm. The spaceship crash lands on an unknown planet covered by dry ice, alongside colored lights and swelling smoke in the landscape. Jane woke West up and informed him this was not his first crash, leading into the rapper performing songs from his first three albums The College Dropout (2004), Late Registration (2005), and Graduation (2007). West reviewed his weaknesses and tried to escape by finding his way home to Earth, after which Jane's computerized voice told him that he is needed as "the brightest star in the universe" and he performed "Stronger". The music was also used for the story of him seeking love, knowledge, and recognition. West's music was re-arranged by his tour band to sound melancholy rather than victorious, incorporating drumbeats and reverberated minor chords. These were succeeded by pop hooks, with the accompaniment of vocoders and synths. He rapped for an hour and a half uninterrupted as he played a hero under a skyline dominated by asteroids, whirling clouds, bursting stars, and moonscapes, failing to break out to connect with others. For the second half of the November 2008 concert at The O2 Arena, West moved away from the space theme into freestyling about venturing to heaven and if his sacrifices for fame were truly worth it. Towards the end of his concerts, Kanye would perform "Hey Mama" in tribute to Donda as he became emotional. The rapper sought power at the end and asked Jane where to "get more power", to which she replied he would be needed for the power and he also briefly performed Journey's 1981 single "Don't Stop Believin'". West appeared with Lupe Fiasco for his encore at the concert in New York City's Madison Square Garden, making his return home.
West deployed a minimalist stage set-up for the tour, appearing alone besides his backup singers and 10–piece live pit band who wore body armour as they played in the dark. The rapper rocked a sci-fi outfit that consisted of glowing accessories, dark jeans, a leather jacket, shoulder pad control panels, gloves, and his signature shutter shades. He mostly paced around on set, while certain points saw him kneel down, drop the microphone, and grind across the stage. Light sequences were deployed for the shows, with a purple light beam at the beginning and pyrotechnics featured later. West was backed by a LED screen that featured star fields, including shooting stars. Landscapes were brought on the screen, incorporating deserts and a giant moon. Video footage was shown of fireworks, explosions, and sunsets, which had the colors of neon pink, purple, and orange. Aliens appeared in floating bubbles, including a moving robot and a female monster who was suspended from wires, wearing a blue wig with her glowing eyes. During "Gold Digger", women covered in gold paint were shown on the screen.
Marketing Using two blog posts in January 2008, West revealed the poster for the Glow in the Dark Tour. The first post was titled "Get Ready!" and simply featured portions of a digitally enhanced tour poster, while the second one was named "The End of the World as You Know It!!!" and depicted West as a multi-color robot in the poster's full frame. West collaborated with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami on the tour's merchandise and it was also made by Virgil Abloh, marking one of his first projects with the rapper. At merchandise stands, $10 plastic replicas of West's shades were available.
In February 2008, West made a sponsorship deal with Absolut Vodka for the tour's US stint, dubbed "The Glow in the Dark Tour Ignited by Absolut 100". The deal was part of the brand's "In an Absolut World" campaign, with them sponsoring after-parties in each city where the rapper performed. West issued a statement honoring how Absolut had collaborated with "the pre-eminent artists of the 20th century", including his inspirations Andy Warhol, Tom Ford, Keith Haring, and Helmut Newton. In July 2008, West and Absolut shared a comedic one-minute commercial entitled "Be Kanye" to bekanyenow.com. Produced by TBWA/Chiat/Day, the video is set in a 1980s retro format with loud colors and humorous sound effects. West promotes the "Be Kanye" tablets that give users the "famous superstar power" to be him for four hours and he asks how often they have told themselves, "I feel famous and powerful on the inside, but nobody sees it that way on the outside?" A person also onlooks in confusion as a man in a club takes one and transforms into West while the rapper himself exits a bathroom stall; the ending shows a toll-free number for orders and the price of $19.95. A spokeswoman for Absolut said that their logo is shown once in the commercial on purpose for their audience to have their own experience rather than "telling them what it is", while they had the intention of capturing those spending more time online and consuming news media. The tablets were also advertised on bus stops, subways, and websites. In April 2018, West shared a trailer of his unreleased Tobias Spellman–directed documentary What Doesn't Kill Me that showed backstage scenes of him and his team on the tour. Although there was no reason disclosed for the lack of a release, the documentary has rarely been mentioned and this indicated the reason of it being done secretly.
Reception and legacy