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pop culture

Janelle Monáe at the Hollywood Bowl

Incredible is the only word that can be applied to Janelle Monáe’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl last night.  Hell, it can be applied to Janelle Monáe in general.  I bought her latest album, The Electric Lady, based on a few raving reviews I’d read and became an immediate fan after listening to it just once.  Songs like “Q.U.E.E.N.”, “Dance Apocalyptic”, and “Electric Lady” are ridiculous musical fun, blending soul, hip-hop, dance and pop in an imaginative and glorious way.  The rest of the album is just as compelling, where she takes chances singing what could be a thrilling James Bond soundtrack to owning some amazing and soaring ballads, then back to something like what Michael Jackson and James Brown would be proud of in their glory days.  She’s basically amazing.130903-janelle-monae

Last night’s concert solidified all that for me, and also made me (MADE ME) buy her other 2 albums off of iTunes, as she sang some songs from these that I absolutely fell in love with, like “Tightrope”.  While blowing everyone in the Bowl away with just her own endless supply of energy and talent (the singing and dancing she does are insane), she then brought in a surprise special guest: Stevie Wonder!!!!!!!  The crowd lost its shit when he came in.  They sang James Brown’s “I Feel Good” together after she had already burned the house down performing it by herself – bringing him in just made it even that more epic.  He then played on the keyboards for a while before leaving, which was just amazing.  JanelleMonae_Covergirl

It was just an incredible show.  I clearly just jumped ahead into the whole concert itself as you should do yourself a favor and become a Janelle Monáe fan too – you’ll not be sorry.  Other things happened there too though!  Before the concert, a group of us met up at Picnic Spot 3 for some pre-show eating and laughing; while at the show, Larry & I were apart from that group as we had bought our tickets way earlier, and ended up meeting our seatmates and having a great time laughing with them too.

In the end – it was a fantastic night.  I didn’t write the setlist down at time as I knew I wasn’t going to know all her songs, but I did find it online – I’m re-purposing it here as I’ll have to recreate it for my iTunes:

Janelle Monáe setlist at the Hollywood Bowl, June 22, 2014

  1. Thus Sprach Zarathustra (her entry music)
  2. Suite IV Electric Overture
  3. Givin Em What They Love
  4. Dance Apocalyptic
  5. Sincerely, Jane
  6. Q.U.E.E.N.
  7. Electric Lady
  8. Victory
  9. I Want You Back / ABC (Jackson 5 covers)
  10. Cold War
  11. Tightrope
  12. I Got You (I Feel Good) (James Brown cover w/ Stevie Wonder)
  13. PrimeTime
  14. Let’s Go Crazy (Prince cover)
  15. What an Experience

My Pics from Janelle Monáe at the Hollywood Bowl, June 22, 2014

22-Jun-2014 17:10, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 5.0, 10.926mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200
22-Jun-2014 16:50, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400
22-Jun-2014 16:50, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 200
 
22-Jun-2014 16:51, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 6.3, 65.612mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100
22-Jun-2014 17:11, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.5, 8.022mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 200
Hanging out at Picnic Area 3 with Maj before the concert
Hanging out at Picnic Area 3 with Maj before the concert22-Jun-2014 17:17, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200
 
22-Jun-2014 17:17, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 160
22-Jun-2014 17:17, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 200
Maj and Larry enjoying the picnicking
Maj and Larry enjoying the picnicking22-Jun-2014 17:18, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 200
 
22-Jun-2014 18:26, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 200
Looking at the back of the Bowl
Looking at the back of the Bowl22-Jun-2014 18:26, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.0, 6.319mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 160
22-Jun-2014 19:15, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 200
 
22-Jun-2014 19:15, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 250
22-Jun-2014 19:15, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 200
In our seats on D-Level
In our seats on D-Level22-Jun-2014 19:26, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.0, 6.14mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 200
 

Some Janelle Monáe videos to give you a good sense of her style and sensibility:

Dance Apocalyptic:

Q.U.E.E.N.:

Tightrope:

 

 

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