From surprise appearances of Common to Kanye West, Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring Day at U.S. Cellular was an unforgettable day for those in the audience.The all day festival featured not only a packed line up of John Legend, Lil Wayne, Tyler the Creator and more, but also a night of surprise guests, theatrics, games, and all together an intimate concert for everyone in the crowd. While at the concert’s initial release, Chance had the tickets set at a more than reasonable double-digit price, though after scalpers and resold tickets, the average price sprung to hundreds of dollars more.
So for those who missed out on the colorful and magnificent experience, here are just a few of the many great songs by the many great artists that played at U.S. Cellular this past weekend.
Tyler the Creator — “Yonkers”
Easily the most recognizable song by Tyler, “Yonkers” is a throwback from half a decade ago to a time where the Odd Future gang – comprised of Earl Sweatshirt, Frank Ocean and many others were known more for being a hip hop collective than individual artists. But after Tyler’s album “Goblin,” Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange,” and Sweatshirt’s “Doris,” the members had easily made a name for themselves individually. Be sure to check out the music video accompanied with “Yonkers,” because it is sure to get you in the right mood for the rather dark violent song.
Common & John Legend— “Glory”
One of the biggest surprises of the night – outside of Kanye’s appearance – was Common’s presence on stage with John Legend. While Legend was always included on Coloring Day’s lineup, Common was hosting his own festival, AAHH Fest! at Grant Park. But the two festival hosts showed love for one another as they both appeared on each other’s stages, the most powerful of the performances being Common and John Legend’s Academy Award winning song “Glory,” which had crowd members in tears.
Alicia Keys— “Fallin”
No one could deny the powerhouse performance by Alicia Keys as she belted “Fallin” to the crowd Saturday night. In a quick appearance, Keys along with her band used the most of her limited time to get the crowd on their feet to sing along. Outside of playing “Empire State of Mind” in Chicago, the throwback classic “Fallin” from 2001 was easily the crowd’s favorite song by Keys.
Kanye West — “Ultralight Beam”
While Kanye himself is hardly on “Ultralight Beam,” the jam-packed lineup of features includes Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price and Kirk Franklin, whom all hold their own throughout the first song on Kanye’s “Life of Pablo.” In his first appearance at the festival, Chance joined the iconic rapper on stage for his final performance of the night. With their arms around each other’s shoulders, the two looked out to the stadium of 44,000 strong, and smiled.
Yes, Kanye smiled.