Review: Monae/Mars

Photos by Sue Pfannmuller/Special to The Star

The day will come when Janelle Monae will headline shows in theaters, maybe even arenas, and it may arrive out of necessity, not a promoter’s instinct or intuition: At some point, as her reputation flourishes, no one will muster the nerve to follow her act.

Saturday night, at the Independence Events Center, she took the middle spot on a three-act bill, between Mayer Hawthorne and the County, an engaging retro pop/soul band from Los Angeles (via Detroit/Ann Arbor), and Bruno Mars, a dashing, smooth-talking Fedora-sporting Hawaiian who writes pop songs designed to make the ladies swoon and the young girls squeal.

Monae, 25, a Kansas City, Kan., native is more difficult to label. Before her relentless one-hour set, the P.A. in the arena played some No Doubt, Prince, Stevie Wonder and OutKast – a mix that barely outlines the foundation of her styles and influences.

She brought with her a 13-piece orchestra, which included a string quartet, a drummer, a percussionist and a two-piece horn section, plus two dancers who changed wardrobes regularly.  Static is not permitted on her stage; everyone was in near constant-motion, either executing some choreographed moves or submitting spontaneously and involuntarily to the energy of her hyper-kinetic set. Even in the margins of her stage, there is business going on.

Above and behind the band, a large video screen broadcast an array of videos and images, including (during “Cold War”) footage of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali laying waste a slew of opponents. The juxtaposition was apt: She assaults her crowd like he hits a speed bag. 

Her setlist included two covers, a lovely and austere version of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” and then a bull’s-eye version of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” The rest came from her Grammy-nominated “The ArchAndroid,” including its first four songs, in order.  During “Mushrooms and Roses,” she picked up a brush and rendered a painting, which she labeled “LOVE,” singing all the while.  All that was a setup for the infernal end of the show, starting with “Cold War” and barnstorming through “Tight Rope” and then “Come Alive,” which popped the cork off the place.

After orchestrating a sing-along (the la-la-la chorus), she threw some accelerant on the mood, first by lying on her back and spazz-gyrating, as if possessed, and then by crowd-surfing from the front row to beyond the middle of the pack. It’s a gimmick at her shows, like the Flaming Lips’ hamster ball, but one that easily incites. By the time she was done, the place looked and sounded like a sports arena where the home team had just won a playoff game in over time.

Twenty minutes later, Mars, 25, and his eight-piece band took the stage, the mood from Monae’s smoldering set still lingering. This show was moved to the arena from the Uptown Theater to accommodate a larger crowd. About 3,600 showed up Saturday, large but not quite large enough to fill the G.A. floor, which was less than half-full. All that openness affected the sound, not demonstrably but enough to generate some dissonance.

Mars’ appearance set off a different kind of reaction: squeals from the many young teens and pre-teens in the crowd – a bit of a surprise considering he is known for co-writing the Cee-Lo hit “(Bleep) You!” and the Travie McCoy hit “Billionaire,” which includes an f-bomb, which he did not censor.  He also indulged in some PG-13 antics, like groin-thrusts and crotch-shots.

He opened with “The Other Side,” a pop-happy soul number that shows off two of his skills: a voice that has conquered several styles, and his way with pop hooks. Given the state of what passes for pop and soul these days, he does improve the Top 40 landscape.

Two songs later, he covered  “Money (That’s What I Want),” showing off his rock-guitar skills in the process, then the satiny, pillow-talking ballad “Our First Time.” The line between smarm and charm gets pretty thin sometimes; Mars is not afraid to cross it. It doesn’t hurt that his smile looks like a fleet of white limousines.

The end of the show included three of his best-known songs, the catchy and unrepentantly inane “The Lazy Song,” and his closer “Just the Way You Are,” a beefy pop anthem that generated plenty of singing-along.

Before that one, he unleashed “Grenade,” another No.1 hit and a meatier, rock-ish song that lives up to its name. It was the rare moment in the set that Mars and his band generated the kind of energy and heft that filled the show that preceded theirs.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[bettyblowtorch]

I think it's worth mentioning that the venue is a barn at best. That she gave 5 times more last Oct at the Liberty. That the squeal of little girls was deafening during Bruno. All that said, she still killed it. She is amazing.

[tim finn]

i've been in that venue when it's much fuller and it sounds a lot better when it is.

[tim finn]

and i wasn't at the liberty hall show.

[Green]

Monae was amazing, great set, best opener of the year for sure. Can't wait to see her get her own show with a little more money to really lay out a performance. Wish this had stayed at Uptown, it would have sold out for sure but the Event Center was too big. The event center security was a joke outside and inside. If your attending an event at the Independence Event Center, its okay to cut in line outside the venue, but not inside the venue, even if one security guard says its okay to step over the wall, also expect a full pat down even if Bruno Mars is on the ticket. The outside lines were a joke, people just cut right in front of large lines that had been there for hours and when told they just ignored you, the people cutting were not just the young teens, a couple adults cut and later while walking in, an older man looked at his kid, laughed and said, we did pretty good in this line, I was so pissed, then inside there was nobody saying floor access this way, seats this way, just a mess.

[Derek Donovan]

This review is spot-on. From where I was on the floor, Janelle's vocals were too low and the mix too hot on top for the first few songs, but things got better after that. Fantastic performance, and Mayer was really good, too. Bruno's not my cup of tea, but he certainly pleased his crowd (which this was, no question).

[Green]

I agree Derek, Janelle's first song started a little rough the band didnt seem together right off the bat but they tightened up pretty quick.

[Pandora Charms Shop]

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