Photo: Melanie Smith (Mudkiss)
www.mudkissphotography.co.uk/
Review: Beth Abbitt for Manchester Evening News
She has the class of Marlene Dietrich, the confidence of Katherine Hepburn and the dance moves of Sammy Davis Junior.
Kicking off her Electric Lady tour at Manchester Academy, Janelle Monae is given a very warm welcome to the city.
Monáe is known for her monochrome uniform, and it’s testament to her incredible sense of style that there are several copycats here tonight. Her trademark quaff is in place and a slick of cherry red lipstick covers her lips, creating a sharp androgynous style.
A striking black and white set is matched by an equally stylish band. But the art deco stylings first seen on debut-album Archandroid have been shaken off in favour of a more 80s ‘Off The Wall’ inspired show.
Monae’s debut album Archandroid was dripping with references to old Hollywood and buzzing with art deco androids.
But The Electric Lady is a far more jazz and funk-tinged affair in which Monae collaborated with Erykah Badu, Esperanza Spalding, Prince and Solange Knowles.
She shows off with some impressive vocal acrobatics on the frenetic, sultry, sci-fi cool of Tightrope. While the sheer theatrics of Electric Lady, Giving Em What You Love, Sincerely Jane and a vibrant Jackson Five medley lay waste to any other current chart hit.
Elsewhere, on the 80s-tinged electro ballad Experience, Monae channels Janet Jackson to great effect.
It’s evident that the songstress delights in her myriad of references, but she never really loses her own identity.
There are plenty of great voices in R n’ B at the moment, but very few performers have the gumption, style and heart of Janelle Monae.
Some of her songs do feel a little busy, perhaps even self-indulgent, but you can forgive Monae her mistakes because of her sheer joyous enthusiasm.
At one point, she commands the crowd to drop to the floor while she busts some light-footed dance moves and prances as the huge crowd watch agog. This is real vaudeville stuff, and Monae knows it.
She also has the same talent for alter-egos as David Bowie, with her anarchistic time-travelling android Cindi Mayweather making Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce pale in comparison.
As a dancer, Monae moves with the effortless precision of Eleanor Powell.
She is feather light and, quite fittingly, fills the room with feathers during a mass pillow fight towards the end of her set.
It’s clear this featherweight is a big hitter and more than capable of holding court with her legion of fans and peers.
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