Janelle Monae, Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

Janelle Monae - Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

July 1, 2010

Beware: Janelle Monáe has her sights set far broader than the confines of Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.

Entering the stage to the left of two be-cloaked dancers wearing long, pointy-nosed masks recalling both Eyes Wide Shut and something more sinister, more shadowy and more Illuminati, anticipation is high and the temperature is higher on this hot summer night. And this era-less imagery in combination with Monáe’s taut, asexual monochrome dress is just one vehicle for expressing not only the characterisation at the heart of The ArchAndroid, but also her desire to be the next biggest and most undivisive star.

Opening with the gut-busting trio of ‘Dance Or Die’, ‘Faster’ and ‘Locked Inside’ segued directly into each other as on the album, the room’s escalating levels of anticipation set the show up for something quite special – and the crowd tonight, throughout, are losing it to Monáe’s moves. It’s much commentated how The ArchAndroid draws on the likes of Off The Wall era Michael Jackson, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Prince, OutKast, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Jones, but the common denominator is ignored – Monáe takes these true megastars as a mere tick-list in the plan, artists chosen for their popularity and game-shifting nous.  Her masterful retake acts as an accessible vehicle for the twisted narrative running throughout the debut album, where protagonist Cindi Mayweather, the android alter-ego behind The ArchAndroid, is an alien in 2719 near-extrapolated from Fritz Lang’s sci-fi classic, Metropolis.

That bold concept accepted, it’s the sub-human sharpness with which Monáe flinches between genres and the perfect, fizzing energy of attack before us that make this such a blinding show. Even the cover of Charlie Chaplin standard ‘Smile’ – which should be a step too far for its Disney soundtrack worthy ornamentation – feels right. It’s a convenient breather from the exhilarating moves of the opening, which have been taken straight from that David Letterman performance and replaced into this hot-box of a venue. ‘Tightrope’ live, tonight, raises the roof to fever pitch in the same way that this famous major TV debut did:

Never to be damned by the concept of what it takes to be “natural” as a performer, or what it takes to make a performance personal, Janelle Monáe and her band gloriously reinvent all that’s popular and has come before. And not once during the 45-minute set does the deliberately blank Monáe address the audience , preferring instead to take breaks between songs and come back powdered down and re-hairsprayed. The only time her guard slightly slips is when her quiff sets loose, and we witness her pupils briefly dilating – but soon enough the starry guise returns, playing the part of the über-popstar.

Let’s welcome the new messiah, in Janelle Monáe, to challenge us paling androids that come before her… she is our most darling and newest, biggest superstar. This is truly a stunning show, a new standard for all that is deemed to be accessible, and a show whose energy and fever will resonate timelessly on its own terms.

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