When I told people I was going to see Kanye West perform his seminal album 808s & Heartbreak in its entirety, the most common reactions I got were “Why would he do that?” and “That’s so random” and even “I’d only go if he was doing Late Registration.”

And I sort of get it — even seven years after its release, 808s is a conundrum of sorts. An eccentric collection of heavily Autotuned soul-searching, it’s an album devoid of the playful skits, social commentary and pop culture references we’d grown accustomed to hearing from ‘Ye. With its chilly synths and arcane lyrics, it was off-putting for fans who were disappointed to hear Kanye singing so much and so melodramatically — where were the flame-worthy raps they’d expected?!

Over time, however, 808s & Heartbreak has gotten its due respect and is now hailed as a groundbreaking record that created the melancholy-R&B template for artists like The Weeknd, Drake, Future and Frank Ocean. So, as a longtime Kanye fan, I was eager to hear how the album holds up in 2015 — when its sound is much more commonplace — and how it’d perform in front of a capacity L.A. crowd.

808s & Heartbreak came to life for the second and last time on Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater nestled in the Hollywood Hills. Kanye’s the kind of artist who wants us to expect the unexpected, but this was a show that stuck firmly to its promised agenda: all 12 songs, in order. No encore, and no hurry — it clocked in at only about 75 minutes, but it never felt rushed. Kanye appeared contemplative and exceptionally patient, taking his time in between songs, as if soaking up what might be one of the most unique performances he’ll ever give.

For as much of a minimalist album as 808s & Heartbreak is, it took an army to make the ambitious production come to life. A choir and an orchestral string section occupied either side of the stage, clad in shades of white: the apparent mandated color of the night. An electronic band set up shop near the back, and in the center, a dozen or so limbless-looking people cloaked in white sheets formed a semi-circle around a petite woman painted gold.

At precisely 9:19 p.m., the lights went out and Kanye emerged singing “Say You Will.” His first and only noticeable blip of the night came no more than a minute into the song, when he quietly but sternly asked the band to start it over again. He faced the gold-painted woman during the entire song, engaging in a standoff of sorts as the harsh bleeping ping-ponged during that haunting, prolonged outro.

But that underlying tension was immediately wiped away for “Welcome to Heartbreak” and “Heartless,” in part because Kanye turned toward the crowd and began vibing out, and in part because Kid Cudi hopped onstage, flashing a sparkly grin and radiating hype as he reunited with his onetime mentor.

Unlike the Friday night performance, Young Jeezy wasn’t there to lend his verse on “Amazing,” but his absence wasn’t too sourly missed, thanks to dozens of shirtless men smeared in white paint. They stood still as statues as Kanye weaved among them, before finally descending the stage and dispersing themselves among the crowd during “Love Lockdown’s” final chorus.

The mood brightened yet again during “Paranoid,” as Kanye addressed the crowd for the first time: “Hollywood Bowl, how you feel tonight?” he yelled, further directing us to show some love for Cudi and Mr. Hudson, who both hopped on the song's chorus. And in a particularly fun and poignant moment for the Angeleno audience, Kanye had us sing along to the “RoboCop” line “You spoiled little L.A. girl, you’re just an L.A. girl.” (Guilty as charged, 'Ye.)

A massive orb that hung from the bowl’s ceiling seemed to act like a mood ring of sorts for the night, and when it turned from white and pink to red, darkness crept over the outer reaches of the venue. Every light was extinguished and the stage was washed in a bright, bloody red as Kanye launched into “Streetlights,” “See You In My Nightmare” and “Bad News,” during which he theatrically fell to the ground as several fake gunshots rang out.

Throughout almost the entire show until this point, a middle-aged woman dressed in white (duh) stood near the front right side of the stage, expressionless and static. But during “Coldest Winter,” she was wheeled out on a slanted table resembling a casket. It’s not hard to see this as an allusion to Kanye’s late mom (especially since he’s said before that the song’s about her), and the tribute was made even more magical with something truly startling: Kanye made it snow. Fake flakes flew out from strategically-placed cannons all around the venue, giving us L.A. folk a rare snowy surprise.

That would’ve been a completely satisfying ending in my mind, but there was still one more trick up Kanye’s white sleeve. After unceremoniously exiting the stage during the final violin sweeps of “Coldest Winter,” he reemerged dressed in a full-body burlap suit, including a thick-looking cover for his face. Miming the movements of a puppet or a pincushion, he launched into “Pinocchio’s Story,” a hidden track recorded as a live freestyle during a concert in Singapore.

Before diving into this track, I’d like to admit that even though I was obviously excited for this show, I was pretty skeptical as well. I couldn’t help but find it odd that Kanye would want to revisit this album at this time in his life. Recorded in the aftermath of his mom’s death and his dissolved engagement, it’s laced with depression and buried in self-doubt — “My friend showed me pictures of his kids/ And all I could show him was pictures of my cribs,” he laments during “Welcome to Heartbreak,” long before he became a husband and father. With the type of devoted family man and egomaniacal artist he is today — one who’s even gone so far as to say he’d like to run the country — is it even possible for him to relate to the loneliness and vulnerability of 808s anymore?

That was (kind of) answered during “Pinocchio’s Story.” For all of the emotional rawness of 808s & Heartbreak, this is the track that really does me in. There’s no way around it; it’s just a f—king devastating song. And even though Kanye sang it convincingly and sincerely — just as he’d done with every other track during the night — this was the one time when he slipped out of his 2008-era heartbreak and gave us a peek into his current-day psyche.

“Can you imagine how many times they told me that I would never work in this town again?” he sang, free-styling near the end of the song. “But now two nights at the Hollywood Bowl, sold out. Don’t let ‘em bring me down.” (Cue major roars from the crowd.)

The man who, just minutes before, had adamantly claimed “I won’t ever love again” then finished on a most triumphant note: “Like Pinocchio they must’ve lied… because I feel so much love tonight! I feel so much love tonight!”