Janelle Monáe at Brixton Academy

Janelle Monáe
Cody ChestnuTT
Brixton Academy, 9 May 2014

It's bizarre to think that, in a world of subpar pop divas, Janelle Monáe isn't a huge superstar by now. She has three excellent records to her name, filled with brilliant, clever and catchy-as-hell songs that you'd imagine would all be big hits but for some crazy reason she hasn't had that all important crossover moment. That's why Monáe is playing Brixton Academy tonight instead of Wembley Arena, even though she deserves to be, but all the better for us in attendance because this was one amazing show made all that more exciting because it was in a smaller venue.

I had wondered what kind of show this would be because in all honesty, although I've been to hundreds of gigs over the years, I haven't really experienced many pop or R&B shows, but really it wasn't that much different to a well presented rock show (I really don't know what I was expecting really, given that Monáe has elements of everything from punk rock to classical in her music). There was dancing for sure, but mainly from Monáe herself and her matching backing singers, but the rest of her band weren't placed at the back in the shadows like a pop show, they were front and centre with her and their playing was a huge part of the energy. But, unlike a lot of alternative acts, visually this was hugely entertaining too. It was something like I imagined seeing a classic soul act like James Brown, Prince or Otis Redding, all sweat, adrenaline and passion, and of course a whole heap of fun too.

Before Monáe took to the stage though Cody ChesnuTT emerged on stage for his own set, looking like a throwback to those golden days himself, wearing an army helmet, a denim jacket and a huge bushy beard. There's no doubt about it though, he looked damn cool and he sounded just as good. Showcasing material from his most recent album, Landing On A Hundred, ChesnuTT, depending on the song comes across like a modern day Marvin Gaye, Al Green or Curtis Mayfield. He opens with a rousing That's Still Mama, grooving around the stage like a striking soul warrior. His new songs are often spiritual, political and detail his own redemption and at times are seriously rocking, in fact he even picks up an electric guitar and rocks out on a couple, with each song seeming to take on a new life live. The best track of the night though is a song called Everybody's Brother, where he chronicles his life from one of real debauchery to contented family man, sounding like a cool rock n' roll preacher.

It's hard not to love a woman who is wheeled on stage wearing a straitjacket before being released by a roadie dressed as a scientist in order to dance. Even the stage itself is hugely effective in its simplicity with a backdrop of white sheets and white instruments it looks like the TV Room from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Monáe and her bandmembers complement this by wearing black and white, the most striking being her 60s-style backing singers with their mod-cut bobbed hair and striped mini dresses. Monáe herself looks like she is going horseriding in heaven, in black boots and white jodhpurs.

Starting things off with the slow funky build of Givin Em What They Love, a song she sings with Prince on her new record The Electric Lady, the show quickly goes high-energy with no let-up for at least six songs as she dances into Dance Apocalyptic, Q.U.E.E.N., Electric Lady, Cold War, Tightrope and a medley of the Jackson 5 songs, ABC and I Want You Back. All the while she and her band are grooving away like there's no tomorrow and incredibly, despite the constant dancing, there's no hint of stress in her vocals. Sometimes she's almost like a female James Brown and at one stage they seem to make reference to this by bringing out a cape (like Brown did at the end of his shows) and placing it around her shoulders, like the queen that she is.

There's a costume change and a change of pace for the encore, with Monáe returning in high heels for a more soulful number, Primetime, which shows off her fantastic voice. But she quickly shreds those shoes for flats to energetically dance away as they launch into an incredible cover of Prince's Let's Go Crazy. During Come Alive she actually stage dives into the audience and manages to persuade everyone to gradually sit down as the music slows before loads and loads of pillows are thrown from the stage into the audience, the beat returns and a huge pillow fight on stage and off begins as the music gains momentum. Between all this fun and craziness Monáe is still able to take a serious and emotional moment to hold up a Bring Back Our Girls poster and passionately talk about the situation in Nigeria right now.

Even after all that she still came back for more, going over curfew to give us Many Moons and the perfect goodbye number, What An Experience, which seemed to sum up all the feelings of the night. Seeing Janelle Monáe live was what I imagined seeing Prince in his prime was like. It's rare you see an artist who is not only interesting, clever and talented but has so much incredible showmanship. Monáe may not be a superstar but there's something about her that makes you feel like you are seeing a legend in the making. What an experience indeed.