On opening night of the TD Jazz Fest, Janelle Monae brought the crowd to their knees (literally) with her belting voice reminiscent of the jazz greats and her signature full impact stage presence, which included a much anticipated tap dance solo, live painting and some fabulous choreography from her musicians.
If you’re not familiar with Janelle Monae, you probably also don’t know the show opener, Romain GianArthur who collaborated with Janelle on her Grammy nominated EP Metropolis but this was his first Canadian show and well worth attending. His music, like Monae’s channels Prince and early Michael Jackson and both artists represent the new school of R&B music.
In addition to blowing the crowd’s minds with her stunning vocals, the stage was full of smoke and bright lights that made you feel like you were in a living Electric Lady Land.
Janelle’s band is called the Wondaland Orchestra and is full of top notch musicians who not only play their instruments well but are pros at playing their part on stage, at some points in the performance this meant seriously busting a move while playing their instrument and even lying down to ‘play dead’, while still playing a tune.
Janelle founded the Wondaland Arts Society when she moved to Atlanta after finishing performing arts school and she now works with a whole roster of other like minded artists who don’t quite live in our world but one all of their own.
If you missed Janelle Monae’s performance as opener of the the 2012 Toronto TD Jazz Fest I suggest you check out her music and stay tuned for her next Toronto performance because she is one of the few younger artists of today who always puts on a show that is guaranteed to blow your mind.
Set List:
2.0′s Overture
Dance or Die
Faster
Locked Inside
Call Me Interlude
Smile
Take Me With You
Sincerely, Jane
Dorothy Dandridge Eyes
I Want You Back
Mushrooms & Roses
Cold War Interlude
Cold War
Tightrope
Photos by Melissa Bessey
About the Author: Melissa Bessey
Toronto Mom Now City Manager Melissa Bessey is an entertainment journalist, publicist and an active urban mother of three. She is an accomplished professional visual artist and graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design. Her areas of expertise include arts and culture, education and parenting. Melissa's writing, editing and photography have appeared in BlogTO, The National Post, Women`s Post, 24hrs, Exclaim, Sway Magazine and more. 
Love, love, love this! Janelle Monae has such a classy style and an amazing voice. Great pics of the show.
Great review.