Janelle Monáe might be today's most uncategorizable popular artist. She is frustratingly difficult to pigeonhole: her music channels soul, R&B, funk, pop, rock, jazz, folk, and probably a dozen other styles, throwing it all into a psychedelic blender set simultaneously to Forward and Reverse. (Like one of her heroes, Sun Ra, Monáe says she's an ardent proponent of time travel.) She's a girl after my own heart.
Monáe is also, as I first witnessed at Sonar in 2011, one of the world's great live acts, well on her way to becoming the Hardest Working Woman in Show Business. Monáe's maelstrom landed at Prospect Park Wednesday night, where she and her nine-piece band opened up the 2014 Celebrate Brooklyn! season, performing for an overflow crowd for nearly two hours. The crowd—a diverse mix of African Americans, white hipsters, and young local families—went bonkers, standing and cheering throughout. Or, at least until Monáe made everyone sit during her devastating power ballad "PrimeTime," which brought the house (or should I say trees?) down.
Celebrate Brooklyn! long ago cemented its status as NYC's best outdoor venue—it's just a bonus that I live in the nabe—and they've put together another incredible lineup this summer, including Warpaint (June 26), Bebel Gilberto (July 18), Nickel Creek (July 24), and St. Vincent (August 9). And, those are just the free shows. I wouldn't be surprised if I see my famous neighbor there a few more times before the summer's out.
Full schedule after the jump; more pics from Janelle Monáe here.
