Last Night: Bruno Mars, Janelle Monáe and Mayer Hawthorne at the Gibson Ampitheatre
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| Sarah Bennett |
| Bruno Mars |
Bruno Mars, Janelle Monáe, and Mayer Hawthorne
June 12, 2011
Gibson Ampitheatre
Fresh off their smashing performance at this year's Grammys, Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe linked up once again to tour. With the addition of Mayer Hawthorne, you've got three of the truest purveyors of perfect pop music on stage together. All young, emerging talents, they share a great love and understanding of music from decades past--but they're not afraid to look to the future, either. Last night was the second to last date on their two-month Hooligans in Wondaland North American tour.
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Few people in the audience seemed to be familiar with Mayer Hawthorne & the County, even though his tight neo-soul made him a natural fit for the tour. He used his short opening spot to showcase a mix of both old and new material, like some of his most popular covers and some new material that'll be on his upcoming record for United Artists. He opened with a mix of Snoop Dogg's "Gangsta Luv" and "Make Her Mine" off his Stones Throw debut LP, A Strange Arrangement. He did a quick cover of Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams" and a twenty-second rendition of Beyonce's "Single Ladies"--probably the only song in his set that anyone in the audience recognized. And in between his song "I Wish That It Would Rain" and his latest single, "A Long Time," he taught us a dance from his hometown of Detroit: the Errol Flynn.
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| Sarah Bennett |
| Janelle Monáe |
Last year Monáe released her first studio LP The ArchAndroid for Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy Records, an elaborate R&B sci-fi concept album in which the messiah Cindi Mayweather travels through time to save an android civilization and spread a message of love and unity. Debuting at number 17 on the US Billboard 200, the record earned Monáe a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and led her to a co-headlining spot on the Hooligans in Wondaland tour.
Sarah Bennett Janelle Monáe
In this sequentially faithful reproduction of The ArchAndroid's first act, Monáe opened with instrumental "Suite II Overture" and sped through to "Faster," where she shed her cloak to reveal her trademark tailored tux, skinny tie, and jeweled bow. She jumped into "Sincerely, Jane" with sunglasses from the future on, and then revealed a talent for tributes, moonwalking across the stage and singing a pitch perfect rendition of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."
During "Mushrooms & Roses," Monáe turned her back to the audience to paint a picture, a simple line drawing with the word "love" written across it. She saved the best for last, her two singles off ArchAndroid, the pounding "Cold War" and the greasy funk jam "Tight Rope," and got a piggy-back ride through the crowd and back to the stage.
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