by Ana Montano

Created on: May 16, 2008   Last Updated: May 17, 2008

Summer is the best time of year for music lovers because it's the time when artists go on tour. If you're going to see one concert this year, go see Kanye West's Glow In The Dark Tour. This show was surrounded by a halo of hype from the get-go. It received stellar reviews all around. And when Entertainment Weekly gave the show a B+, they got an earful from West himself who wrote on his blog: "What's a B+ mean? I'm an extremist. It's either pass or fail! A+ or F-!"

As soon as the concert began, it was already miles above any other concert I've been to. At 7:00 pm on the dot, just like it said on the tickets, the lights were out and Lupe Fiasco was starting his set. When was the last time you didn't have to wait two hours before the artist decided it was time to come out? Lupe Fiasco was the first pleasant surprise. The performance was simple but energetic. And even more impressive than the rapper was his backup singer, Matthew Santos. You probably know him as the guy who sings the chorus in the hit, Superstar. His voice perfectly complemented Lupe Fiasco's rapping style in more than half the songs.

Next up was N.E.R.D with their unique brand of rocking hip hop. They had the crowd on their feet with hits like Lap Dance and Rock Star. What made their performance spectacular was the ridiculous amount of energy. Fronted by Pharrell Williams, the entire band jumped around and banged their heads enough for the entire audience. At the end of their set, they brought up some people from the audience to dance with them onstage, the ultimate way to end a great performance.

Holding her own with all the boys was singer, Rihanna, who performed mostly hits back to back. Her dancers rounded out her performance under a black light with giant glow sticks. Her performance was a little more elaborate and choreographed than the preview two with raised platforms for her dancers and moving scaffolding. She even managed to squeeze in a costume change into her half hour set.

Finally, the man of the hour came on stage. Kanye West did the entire show solo on stage with no dancers and with the band hidden under the stage. His performance was unlike anything I've ever seen because simply put, it had a plot. His songs were used to take the audience on an interplanetary journey. He began lying on his back on a giant screen that he performed on for most of the show. The screen was tilted forward along with the rest of the stage that resembled a mountainous terrain.

On his last mission in space,

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