New Power Soul Revolution from Janelle Monae

Last week, before Glastonbury drew everyone’s attention to the fields of Worthy Farm, the Guardian published a rare and surprisingly revealing interview with my personal musical hero, Prince.

The normally reclusive and press-averse megastar spoke, albeit briefly, about his favourite current artists. He called out two by name. One was Adele. The other was Janelle Monae.

When the Minneapolis maestro speaks, you know it’s time to listen up.

Her show at Tripod last week was a perfect illustration of a brave new artist on the brink of much wider success, with her roots and influences squarely apparent and fully on show – wonderful covers of Prince, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5 and Sly and the Family Stone in the mix with her own already impressive material – and a live band so well-drilled and on the mark that they were a huge part of the show, as much as Janelle herself.

So much so that the theatrical aspects of this “emotion picture”, on top of some of the best future funk/soul you are likely to hear, made for one of the most mesmerising shows to hit Dublin for a long time, and probably for a long time to come.

After the bandleader had us call Janelle to the stage, the infectious energy and apparent joy of playing instantly transferred to the crowd as soon as the band broke in to Dance Or Die – an appropriate opener, because if you didn’t dance during the show, you probably were dead. That buzz did not flag until even after the main show, when the assembled ArchOrchestra returned to the stage for a hugely-deserved curtain call.

In between, Janelle’s vibrant and powerful soul voice weaved it’s way around Tripod, capturing all in its wake, as the band – made up of a string quartet, brass section, guitar, bass, keys, backing singers, dancers, MC, and drummer – put on a polished, soul revue-style performance that was utterly entrancing.

Her ArchAndroid was one of the best records of last year, and this live show will go down as one of the best of 2011.
Janelle promised at the end that they would be back – when she does return, don’t miss it.