Kate “refrain from taking photos” Bush it most certainly was not. For those lucky enough to get in to Kanye West’s surprise show at Koko in London on Tuesday, documenting the night on social media was taken as a given.
After the show started near 1am – official 11pm doors time, be damned – West shared the stage with grime artists Skepta, Jme, Novelist and Meridian Dan and also brought out hip-hop artist Cyhi da Prynce and American rappers Big Sean, Vic Mensa and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan.
We’ve scanned through posts from the night and collated them here, so you don’t have to. If you were at Koko and have pictures or photographs of your own that you’d like to share, drop links to them in the comments section – yes, you can gloat a little. In the meantime, here are some of the highlights from a span of gig attendees:
The fans
Kanye west tonight at Koko! It's Yeezy season!!!!
— Eleanor Hill (@EJHil) March 3, 2015
Securing tickets was only the first hurdle. Fans then queued outside Koko for a couple of hours, before doors opened after midnight.
waiting outside koko in arctic conditions
— madeleine (@yomadlion) March 3, 2015
#Kanyequeue #KOKOLondon pic.twitter.com/1QeAHrVXAJ
— KOKO (@KOKOLondon) March 3, 2015
Once inside, US and UK artists swapped back and forth on tracks including West’s Mercy, a cover of Drake’s All Me, Skepta’s recent single Shutdown and Big Sean’s I Don’t Fuck With You.
KANYE, VIC MENSA, BIG SEAN, RAEKWON, SKEPTA, JME, NOVELIST, MERIDIAN DAN + more #KanyeKoko pic.twitter.com/y5KVvSRgYl
— Henry Whittingdale (@hwhittingdale) March 4, 2015
Last Night Was Like A Dream & A Movie All in One!! My Hearts still in My Stomach #KanyeKoko #Kanye Love This Venue 🙌 pic.twitter.com/mFmskBGM4K
— KC (@MissDJKC) March 4, 2015
The musicians
Rappers and producers present on the night shared noticeably calmer posts on Twitter and Instagram. Skepta helped push news of the tickets before the gig, and producer Just Blaze put up an Instagram picture of West from the gig captioned with “walks”: a play on the title of song Jesus Walks.
TONIGHT @ KOKO, LONDON #SHUTDOWN http://t.co/NmHHN41Giu
— SKEPTA (@Skepta) March 3, 2015
Big up @skepta and thank you @kanyewest. It was great to be a part of amazing show last night.
— Novelist (@Novelist) March 4, 2015
The press
Caroline Simionescu-Marin, editor of grime music site GRM Daily, captured plenty of video footage on the night. Her videos have since cropped up on the Fader and Complex.
#KanyeKoKo pic.twitter.com/bAVxCpPliD
— CSM (@carolinesm) March 4, 2015
BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Austin Daboh was also on hand, pushing out a couple of Twitter videos on the night and adding more excitable analysis in the morning on Wednesday 4 March.
It was a back to back set 😭 Kanye,Skepta,JME,Novelist,Big Sean & Vic Mensa swapping between 2 mics like a youth centre. AMAZING #KanyeKoko
— Austin (@AustinIsDeleted) March 4, 2015
Though his phone might have died during the gig, BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra DJ Peter “Mistajam” Dalton tweeted and went on to share a Snapchat story of his videos from the night. 1Xtra’s DJ Semtex also shared a series of Instagram photos and videos from the show (and an obligatory post of his VIP pass).
Vic Mensa performs a new song then stage dives while Yay & Big Sean hold the stage… now Yay is doing Power….
— mistajam (@mistajam) March 4, 2015
Here’s the setlist, not to be confused with the parody list on Setlist.fm that at one point claimed the set opened with Kanye and Hacktivist jamming on Bernard Cribbins’s Right Said Fred and featured a complete runthrough of Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album.
That’s Not Me
Mercy
German Whip
96 Fuckries
Cold
So Appalled
CyHi Freestyle
Blessings
All Me (Drake cover)
Clique
RBX
Shutdown
New Slaves
Wolves
U Mad
Power
Can’t Tell Me Nothing
I Don’t Fuck With You
All Of The Lights
Good Life
Jesus Walks
It Ain’t Safe
Don’t Like
Black Skinhead
Blood On The Leaves
C.R.E.A.M. (Wu-Tang Clan cover with Raekwon)
All Day
All Day (yes, twice)
