The Tabernacle = Church

I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Last night’s performance was ASTOUNDING. It was like the ultimate playlist from three of my favorite artists. It’s interesting that the concert venue was a renovated church called Tabernacle, because I definitely heard the gospel, sang some neo-hymns and darn-near caught the spirit! (It would be inappropriate to use profanity in a biblical metaphor, right? Right.) Now, I missed the opening act because (as usual) I was running late. I left an MBA information session early so I could get to the show in enough time to see Janelle Monae hit the stage…

My God. That woman is amazing. Her style is so unique and fresh. Not only does she explore alternative sounds and experiment with style, but she captivates and wows her audience with every show! I’ve seen her three times live, and she has gotten better each time. She started off with "Violet Stars Happy Hunting" (classic) and followed with "Smile". The first time I heard Janelle sing Smile I was brought to tears. Perhaps it had to do with a certain young man’s negative affect on my life, but the lyrics touched and moved me to a deeply emotional place… Nostalgia is quite the phenomenon. After those two signature songs, we heard "Sincerely Jane" and two more songs. Her wild, robotic dancing was passionate, energetic, and very entertaining... so much so that Pharrell later imitated it during his set. She is a true rock star in the making. Nevermind this whole Bad Boy charade... this lady is the real deal with a voice of honey, and eclectic taste to round it out.

Then Pharrell’s sexy self hit the stage and performed all of NERD’s hits. He started off with Seeing Sounds tracks, touched on a few In Search Of… songs in a medley, and then brought it home with back-to-back favorites like “Lapdance,” “Rockstar,” “Everyone Nose” and “She Wants To Move.” In each of his breaks between songs, he proved just how conscious and politically aware he was (which I loved). He talked about Obama, his confidence that we (his audience) were registered to vote and kick some ass on November 4, and even touched on the stock market crisis. He said to us (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Don Lemon was backstage with me doing an interview and he asked me about my opinion on Wall Street. I told him I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened… at all. In fact, I wrote a song about it. Wanna here it? Here it go: Sooner or later, it all comes crashiiiing doooooown…”

I wonder if he would consider marrying me.

Then, my man… one of the most beautiful human beings to ever walk the planet… came onto the stage. Lonnie Lynn is the quintessence of strength, charisma, charm, sex appeal, intelligence, talent, wit and beautiful brown skin. He rocked SEVEN tracks from his upcoming album, and each one sounded great. I must admit, I was kinda disappointed when I heard he didn’t work with Kanye on this record… but it didn’t hurt him one bit. Common is as fresh, alive and relevant as ever. His albums always find that perfect balance with “conscious” tracks, club bangers, and smooth love-like songs. Hmmm… he actually might beat Pharrell out with this whole marriage idea.

Of course, after Common performed all of his new ish, with intermittent odes to older albums including Be and Like Water for Chocolate, he had to come back for an encore. We still had to hear “The People,” “I Want You,” and “The Light”!!

I slept well last night (after politely asking my roommate and her BFF to quiet down at 1:30 in the morning). I woke up beaming. It didn’t matter that it was rainy and dreary outside. Last night’s show provided enough sunshine to last me through the weekend. The Single Aesthetic here is finding serenity and peace in loud, crowded concert venues… which always manages to put me in a warm and fuzzy place.

CHURCH!




If the Invincible Sounds of Summer tour has not yet made it to your city... please go buy your tickets now! The entire concert is well worth the ticket price and Ticketmaster "convenience fees" (which are a complete joke, btw).