North West had both of her parents in the building for the biggest concert of her young music career. They just were not watching from the same place.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attended their 13-year-old daughter’s first headlining concert at The Vic Theatre in Chicago on Sept. 5. Footage from inside the sold-out show showed the former spouses watching from opposite sides of the venue, according to TMZ.
Kardashian shared clips of North and the cheering audience on her Instagram Stories, including fans holding homemade signs, while West was filmed watching from the opposite side and recording portions of his daughter’s performance on his phone.
The night marked a milestone North had been working toward after her planned summer tour was canceled. Rather than stepping away from live performance, she turned to a one-night Chicago headline show built around her debut EP, unreleased material and music drawing directly from her father’s catalog.
Kim and Kanye Watched From Opposite Sides of The Vic
Videos from inside the Lakeview venue make the arrangement clear. Kardashian and West were both there to support North, but they watched from different sides of the theater.
West could be seen nodding along and filming North on his phone from his section. Kardashian was doing much the same from hers, later sharing footage of her daughter’s set and an enthusiastic crowd to her Instagram Stories.
Both parents already had separate reasons to be in Chicago that weekend. Kardashian visited her SKIMS flagship in the Gold Coast neighborhood earlier Saturday, while West had performed at Soldier Field on Sept. 3 and 4 before attending North’s show the following night.
North Used Her First Headlining Show to Preview What Comes Next
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The Sept. 5 performance was North’s first headline concert. North performed material from N0rth4evr, the six-track debut EP she released May 1, as well as unreleased music. TMZ reported that one of those songs samples West’s “Coldest Winter,” from his 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak.
That track had already been developing publicly for months. North previewed a beat built around “Coldest Winter” during a studio livestream in March, using the original melody and portions of her father’s vocals. The Chicago performance therefore gave audiences a more developed live version of music followers had previously heard only in snippets.
The Vic show was a new milestone, but not North’s first time performing solo. She had already played her first solo festival set at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash in the Chicago area earlier in the summer, making the Sept. 5 date her move from festival billing into a concert carrying her name at the top.
The Canceled Tour Turned Into a One-Night Chicago Show
North had originally planned to spend August co-headlining the Kimokawaii Tour with Molly Santana. Complex reported that the all-ages event followed the cancellation of her planned 14-date North American run which was scheduled to begin in Dallas and travel through cities including Atlanta, New York, Toronto and Chicago before ending in Los Angeles.
When those dates were canceled, North told followers she had been excited to tour with Santana but teased that she had “something special” coming instead. The Vic announcement supplied at least part of that answer.
The Chicago tourism office promoted the Sept. 5 date as a special headline performance following the canceled tour, with the concert scheduled at The Vic from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. TMZ subsequently reported that the show sold out.
North Had Already Said Music Is What She Wants to Do
North made her intentions unusually direct in an August Dazed interview. Asked about the worst advice she had received, she pointed to being told to wait before starting her career.
“This is my hobby, this is what I like to do, this is what I wanna do with my life,” she said. North also described performing as “fun, relieving and exciting” and said her approach to preparation had changed significantly.
She said she now rehearses every day after previously preferring to walk onstage and see what happened. Her version of an ideal day involved rehearsal followed by studio time, while “having a big show” was another possibility she singled out.