By Patrick Greenwell
The houselights are down at the Kentucky Center’s Bomhard Theater. On stage, a band plays, but the vocalists are nowhere to be seen. Certainly she can be heard, rapping quickly into a microphone, it is impossible to pinpoint where her voice originates from. Suddenly the spotlights shine on a cloaked figure standing on one of the VIP tables. The figure opens the cloak, revealing the trademark pompadour and black and white tux of Janelle Monáe. “Dance or die,” she commands, and by the time the next song starts more than half the theater is crammed into the VIP section, dancing, shouting, and clapping.
Monáe’s first album, “ArchAndroid” has been generating a lot of press for its unique style. It is an incredibly impressive debut album, but it is somewhat difficult to describe.
Monáe’s style blends a variety of styles, forming a psychedelic, neo-soul, funk, hip-hop, rock fusion. Further, it is also a concept album, telling the story of the android, Cindy Mayweather, as she ascends to messianic status as the titular “ArchAndroid.” It’s one of the most ambitious concept albums since David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.”
Like her album, Monáe’s live performance blends a variety of concepts. Truthfully it is more a performance art piece than a music concert. During the majority of the songs, Monáe divides her efforts between singing and dancing, creating a James Brown style stage presence.
Her song “Cold War” was accompanied by remixed videos of Muhammad Ali’s fight with Sonny Liston and Luke Skywalker’s fight with Darth Vader. During her performance of “Sincerely Jane,” Monáe demonstrated her gun slinging skills, engaging in a pantomime zombie apocalypse with the members of Deep Cotton and the rest of her fellow artists from the Wondaland Arts Society. She even began painting during the instrumental of “Mushrooms and Roses,” giving the finished product to a person in the crowd.
It is difficult to pick a high point of the performance. Eventually, the sheer number of events taking place on stage cause everything to become a blur. Monáe’s performance of her single, “Tightrope” was the most overt throwback to James Brown style stage antics, pairing impressive footwork with an old school funk sound. It was extremely well received by the audience, prompting a several minute long standing ovation.
Monáe’s final song, “Come Alive” was certainly her most energetic. For almost ten minutes she jumped around the stage wildly, shouting out her lyrics. About halfway through the song, her pompadour came apart, covering her face in a wild mess of hair. She ended the concert where it began, again standing on top of one of the VIP tables, completely surrounded by her audience.
All in all, Monáe is an impressive performer. She is able to deftly change her vocal style to match any number of genres, and she has a keen grasp of stage presence. In a matter of minutes she was able to transform a smaller, more subdued venue like the Bomhard Theater into something akin to a larger arena.
Her band was equally capable. Her guitarist performed a Hendrix-esque National Anthem and frequently jumped around the stage and dueled with the bassist. Many artists claim to be high energy, but few will ever come close to Janelle Monáe’s level. Not only is her music incredible and unique, but her live performance is something that has to be seen to be believed.
