Concert Review: Janelle Monae is the #1 Electric Lady
As the lights dimmed, the crowd of eager Janelle Monae fans shrieked in excitement, and two men dressed in white lab coats and black bow ties approached the stage to set up.
Up until that point, the energy in the room had been driven by the opening acts, Rahbi and Roman GianArthur, but when the time had come for Monae to hit the stage the excitement doubled in anticipation.
To say that Janelle Monae is a great performer is an understatement, but for fear of sounding like a groupie fangirl, I am just going to leave it at that.
Tuesday night at the Tabernacle was the last scheduled show of “ The Electric Lady Tour,” and while there was some fear that it may have been cancelled due to previous cancelations of other show dates, Monae did not disappoint.
The Atlanta show was kind of like a homecoming for Monae because she and her team at The Wondaland Arts Society are based out of Atlanta. So, she said that she was very excited about it.
To start her set, Monae began with the edgy duet “Givin’ Em What They Love,” which features Prince. While there was no surprise visit from Prince himself, Monae still sung the song flawlessly by herself. Then, she kept the energy of the show going with a performance of her single “Dance Apocalyptic.”
From start to finish, Monae did her best to keep the energy upbeat with fast tempo songs,but she she also allotted for some quieter moments in the show. For example, when she sung her song “Victory” it became a very spiritual and emotion moment.
Also, when she performed “Primetime” two couples got engaged, which was a really sweet moment as well. Monae even stopped the show to congratulate them. After that, she quickly picked the pace of the show back up again when she sung “Tightrope,” and fans were overjoyed when Big Boi from Outkast came out to join her in the song.
Aside from the music, the outfit changes were really cool as well. Each outfit was a variation of Black and White. She started in white skinny jeans, Knee high black boots and a white and black pinstripe moto jacket. Then, later on she was in a floor length cape, and by the end of the show she ended up in black skinny jeans, a white button up, a black and white pinstripe cardigan, bowler hat and flats.
Another thing that was very admirable in the show was how close Monae was willing to get to her fans. At one point she went down into the crowd and jammed with them, and during one of the songs she made heart symbols with her hands and blew kisses out to the audience. She also crowd surfed.
All in all The Electric Lady concert was something that many will remember and talk about for a long time. Janelle Monae is definitely a real talent!
Pyramid Atlanta 