West first performed a portion of the song live in August 2008 for the ONE Campaign concert at the DNC in Denver, Colorado. Before his performance of "Heartless" for T.I.'s Myspace sponsored concert at the Key Club, Los Angeles, in October 2008, West announced that "808s &amp; Heartbreak" had been finished in Hawaii and the song would be released as a single. He abruptly ended the performance, complaining about not wanting it to end up on YouTube. West finished his appearance at the 2008 American Music Awards by performing the song. He wore a blue and red two-tone Pastelle varsity jacket for the performance, being accompanied by a neon back-drop. West transitioned from a performance of the song into one of fellow album track "Pinocchio Story" for "Saturday Night Live (SNL)" on December 13, 2008. On January 20, 2009, West performed the former at the Be the Change Youth Ball for the first inaugaration of 2009–2017 US president Barack Obama. During an instrumental break in the song, Kanye West proclaimed that he "feels so good to be standing here" and Donda "would be so proud right now" in seeing "her baby boy performing the #1 song in the country for our new African-American president". West also said that his grandfather "drove the first car in the marches out of Oklahoma" to see the ball, before he sang an altered version of the song's chorus in tribute to both the civil rights struggle and Obama: "In the night I hear them talk/ The greatest story ever told, [...] Somewhere far along this road, a new soul: Obama ..."