Kanye's moody Blues performance

Greg Kot of the Chicago Times wrote a telling review of Kanye West's recent benefit concert at the city's House of Blues, where said rapper's moods were the only thing in full swing as he stopped and started certain songs and interrupted others to shout directions at sound and lighting technicians.

After an interminable opening set by a variety of West proteges, the curtain parted and the band began to perform one of West's new songs, "I Wonder." West entered to huge applause in untucked white shirt, purple cardigan, jeans and sunglasses and began to rap. All seemed fine, except in West's mind. He cut the song short after only a minute and strode off stage, leaving his string and horn section to sit in bewildered silence. Three minutes later, he walked on again as if nothing had happened, and performed a strident version of his 2005 hit "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," and he was off.

After detailing which songs worked best, and which fell short, Kot concludes:

...everything about this performance was defined by West's mood. Those wildly swinging emotions, unguarded and unfiltered, are what make him so watchable.

Honestly, it sounds like things went relatively smoothly for someone whose disruption of an entire awards ceremony is the lesser of his infamous gestures. I mean hey, the crowd got half a song more than they would have, appropriate lighting and a human spectacle to boot! Not even joking, here.

And now, we poorly segue into a clip West's guest appearance on HBO's Entourage, which fades out with a snippet from "Good Life."

Read more about Kanye and his upcoming album, Graduation, in Paste's September issue. The record itself hits shelves on Sept. 11. Meanwhile, the Daft Punk-sampled single "Stronger" continues to hold the number one spot on UK charts.

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