Just back from this smokin' show and anyone that wasn't there, missed a great night.

Janelle Monae tore through a 75 min. high concept set, playing selections from her Metropolis suite and upcoming album, due in May which supposedly covers part II and III, of IV total.

Movie-like visuals, costumed dancers, and balloons were all part of the set and her performance of 'Tightrope' right before encores, killed like James Brown at the Apollo in 1962.

And, watching it from a lone front and center table in the back balcony was Prince, who seemed to be really enjoying what he saw and gave her a standing ovation at set's end, and right before he ducked out to a waiting car at the venue's side exit.
P was by himself except for one or two from his staff hovering nearby and a bartender in the back. He wore black with gold trim, and had the cane with him too.

Talking with Monae's crew after, I found out she got invited back to Paisley and their crew was trying to decide their schedules if they went to Chanhassan. As they have a day off on Thursday before heading to Detroit, I think they were taking P up on his offer but am not sure.

Anyway, a unique show, good time, and finally nice weather here in Moneyapolis.
[Edited 3/31/10 23:34pm]
[Edited 3/31/10 23:36pm]

Her new video for "Tightrope" is very cool. I like the choreography. As I said in the thread about her in the Non-Prince Music forum, she's the only female I've ever seen attempt to dance like James Brown.
[Edited 3/31/10 23:42pm]

i like this girl a lot. her style and her voice are very nice.

plus, her songs have so much energy and are packed with many
layers. so many lyrics in there you have to put them on once
they're done to just listen again and try to absorb it all.

let's hope prince is being inspired by her to something more
along those lines instead of stuff like "cause and effect".

Cool sounds like a good night was had by all

I knew from day one when this girl came out that Prince would dig her. She is a rare talent and fun to watch. I'm so glad Prince is living life right now.

Wow! That's aaawesome! She is so incredible!
I'm sure they brought each other some very
good powerful vibrations! Word is she is still
gushing from Prince's visit
The way she moves in Tightrope, it's almost
like pure electricity; Holy Spirit-filled body
shaking and sliding, if you know what I mean!
I'm sure Prince is thinking "I want to dance."

Thanks for sharing this, and here is a
peek at the video for Tightrope. The lyrics are
very empowering too.
http://www.youtube.com/wa...wnefUaKCbc

WaterInYourBath said:

She nails it too!!

Love the song and the video I feel the song really didnt need the Big Boi rap as it adds nothing to the quality of an already really good pop song.

Love her look too, she reminds me of Shingai Shoniwa from the Noisettes I adore their au naturel look its so beautiful

Shingai


Janelle

Awesome performer. Would be nice to see Janelle and Prince performing a concert together.
[Edited 4/1/10 10:36am]

Love33 said:

I hope they did some music together. Very True indeed I love her.

Both Star Tribune music critics were in attendance and Jon Bream posted his review,
(pretty high praise about Monae and didn't know Fiona was in town too):

http://www.startribune.co...1270144945

Newcomers Monae, Fiona: Future & past of R&B in one night in Mpls.
By Jon Bream / April 1, 2010

I saw the future and the past of R&B in one night in the Twin Cities.

On Wednesday, Melanie Fiona, who already has earned a Grammy nomination and enjoyed a No. 1 R&B hit for nine weeks, gave a cameo performance for 100 industry invitees at Seven in downtown Minneapolis, and a couple hours later, Janelle Monáe, a protege of P. Diddy and OutKast who is about to drop her debut full-length album on May 18, gave an unforgettable performance for a couple hundred hipsters - and Prince - at the Varsity Theater.

First, Fiona. The 26-year-old from Toronto came across like the daughter of Cher and Tina Turner. In her 30 minutes onstage, this classic soul singer displayed plenty of personality, a strong if inconsistent voice and a command of the stage. Her smash ballad 'It Kills Me' lacked the sexyness of its video, but Fiona still made it work. 'Ay Yo' was an island-flavored anthem that connected with the crowd. Fiona, who exuded star quality, impressed most on the retro pop 'Johnny'.

Just about everything about Monáe impressed. Coming across like the daughter of Grace Jones and Sharon Jones, the high-haired 24-year-old from Atlanta delivered a high-concept, high-energy performance of ambitious, dramatic, cinematic, futuristic electro-funk alt-R&B, with a little mock classical tossed in. Backed by two dancers and a tight three-man band (including a rock-noise guitarist who looks like Andre 3000 but is really Maceo Parker’s son), Monáe tore it for 75 minutes.

Previewing her cinematic CD 'The ArchAndroid' (which features Big Boi, Of Montreal, Saul Williams and others), she opened with a long suite that suggested OutKast in its adventurous experimentalism. At first, it seemed hard to determine where OutKast ended and Monáe began. (She appeared on OutKast’s 'Idlewild.') However, before too long, her visionary postmodern mashup became clear as she blended elements of funk, hip-hop, Broadway, mock-classical, syncopated electronica and James Bond-like cinematic music. By the time she got to 'Tightrope,' her current single, she became a female James Brown in overdrive - without the sweat.

While the first half was often thrilling, the second half was mostly terrific. The way that Monáe commanded the stage with her vision, energy and style (high hair, pouffy shoulder pads, two-tone asymmetrical eyeglasses), it was easy to overlook the fact that her voice was sometimes a little thin and occasionally shrill.

Can’t wait to hear her album. Can’t wait to see her in concert again. She is the most exciting R&B performer to come along since Sharon Jones and the most intriguing new artist since Adele.

Janelle Monae set list:
Overture II/ Dance or Die/ Faster/ Locked Inside/ Say You’ll Go/ Make the Bus/ Wonderland/ Sir Green Down/ Cold War/ Tightrope/ Mushrooms & Roses/ Sincerely Jane/Violet Stars Happy Hunting/ Many Moons

JOYJOY said:

Yeah, The Noisettes are VERY cool. Their type of different music needs to take over.

JOYJOY said:

oh please everyone knows that her style (Janelle) got robbed by so many wannabe's in 2009 it was unreal .....

Shingai - got her style for Janelle as did VV Brown ....etc..etc...

http://blogs.citypages.co...onae_p.php

Poor Prince. He can't go anywhere these days without a string of tweets popping up and outing his whereabouts. (Including, um, ours.) About 20 minutes before Janelle Monae started her set last night at the Varsity, a pair of security guards quickly ushered Prince out of a white limo and through a side door of the theater, bringing him upstairs into the roped-off new balcony of the venue to sit a small candle-lit table.



But enough about His Purpleness -- we were there for Monae. Her set was a performance of her new concept album, The ArchAndroid, from start to finish, which gave the night an odd flow but was ultimately bombastic and amazing. The first half of her set was a bit anti-climactic; there were a few awkward pauses between songs as the band waited for some video footage to get cued up, and a few of the slower songs zipped by with a rushed feel, but the second half of the set was everything I had remembered about seeing her in Austin last year.

The whole first part of the set was a buildup to her new single, and it seemed like Monae didn't really get comfortable or break loose until the bass beat of "Tightrope" started booming from behind her. It could have been nerves (um, hello, PRINCE WAS WATCHING) or the disappointment in a somewhat small crowd (the venue was only about half full), but for whatever reason Monae seemed hesitant and almost disinterested in her own show at first. But everything exploded during "Tightrope," Monae breaking into a full-body herky jerky dance and beaming as she belted out the hook of the song.

Most of the crowd seemed familiar with Monae's singles already, despite the fact that they've only been out a few weeks, and I was especially surprised to see a sizeable chunk of the audience singing along word-for-word to "Cold War." With even the smallest amount of radio support, it seems like Monae could draw a much larger crowd than the one that turned out last night -- her songs are catchy, her energy is contagious, and her style and the conceptual nature of her stage show are tailor-made for large stages and audiences.

The full Monae package is really spectacular. In the moments when she was on, she was ON, dropping to her knees in a James Brown-style cape to sing her guts out, parading out robotically with assymetrical sunglasses or contorted metal headresses and then breaking into maniacal dances, staring hypnotically toward the ceiling like she was about to be beamed up to the mother ship. Her band was locked in behind her every step of the way, and even though the sound wasn't mixed perfectly (her vocals were boomy, and the drums were way too loud), the overall impact of the band was grandiose, a cacophony of screaming guitars and sped-up dance beats. They even took a moment to slow things down so that the keyboard player could play the second half of Debussy's "Clair de Lune," mixing a beautiful impressionist piano piece into the dizzying array of R&B, funk, soul, pop, disco, and cyborg-inspired syncopations.

An hour and 15 minutes later, the band was spent, Monae was sweaty, and the crowd was dazed. Even after a slow start, Monae has proven herself once again to be an incomporable performer and a forward-thinking artist -- let's just hope the Twin Cities has enough sense to come out to support her the next time her tornado rips through town.

Janelle Monáe is just...cool.

I like her vibe and the song is refreshing.

Janelle put this on her Twitter 2 hours ago

Artists need inspiration from watching other Artists work. Got it from Our visit @ Paisley Park. Headed 2 Detroit:-)


I am bummed I missed this show, not even because Prince was there. Just didn't work out for me to go though