Well let me sum it up like this – I have the day off, I thought it would be a riot and I wasn’t wrong, it’ 10:17 and I have just woken up. My feet are sore. My ears are ringing and my back is twitching. These are all very good signs as I have not felt this post concert for a very long time.
I am still amazed and astounded that Janelle is not bigger than she should be – the woman has such a voice, boundless energy and an eye for theatrics and showmanship.
For a venue as small as the Shepherds Bush Empire, Janelle managed a show with a full story and props. The top hatted ring master welcomed us to the Archandriod and the plight of Cindy Mayweather… from there it was all raw funk, heavy orchestral’s, high brasses and the odd bit of painting (yes Janelle put paint to canvas amidst “Mushrooms and Roses”).
I certainly didn’t expect Janelle to lean over and jump into the crowd during the encore – it’s no wonder the security on the sides were so strict!
She also squeezed in two covers, “Smile” (which features on the Metropolis deluxe edition) and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
“Tightrope” and “Come Alive” saw Janelle at her most energetic – it seemed like she was going to burst the speakers with her high notes and the energy she kicked out I thought she was going to combust. I fact she shook her perfectly quaffed quiff out of shape. The girl has some energy I’ll give her that!
In a year where I have seen the Pet Shop Boys, Kelis, Fenech Soler and Tangerine Dream (!) – Janelle comes out on top – best show of the year – no doubt!
I only had my iPhone 4 with me but I hope these photo’s give you a sense of the show… The video is a snippet from “Smile”. My friend got some excellent photographs and I hope to share them with you once he’s uploaded them.
Track list (as far as I can remember!):
- Suite II Overture
- Dance or Die
- Faster
- Locked Inside
- Smile
- Wondaland
- Sincerely, Jane.
- Mushrooms and Roses
- Cold War
- Tightrope
- I Want to Hold Your Hand
- Come Alive
Do yourself a favour… pop over to Spotify to listen to The Archandroid and then stop by the iTunes store to buy it! You won’t be sorry!
Thanks to Paddy for taking and sharing this fantastic photo of Janelle on stage!
Keith Tomlinson Photography 
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I’m seeing her tonight in Manchester (I’d completely forgotten but seeing this article on Twitter reminded me!), and I am SO excited now. If she genuinely puts on a performance as good as you’ve said she will, I am practically giddy.
Shocked/annoyed “Many Moons” isn’t in her set… but whatever. Enough amazing songs in there to make up for it.
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I was a little surprised but to be honest even though I love the track I didn’t miss it.
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I had no doubt that JM would put on a spectacular show, but knowing you’re tough on your musicians, I wasn’t sure how the review would come out. It’s good to hear that JM brought it, then brought it some more. It does surprise me too that she’s not bigger than she is; she seems to be just overlooked. I caught onto her early on when ArchAndroid came out, then “Tightrope” hit and she got a lot of attention. The problem is – there’s no new single out. If she’s pushed one to radio, radio hasn’t picked it up. “Cold War” has a video, but it balks of a very similar Alanis Morissette video. People want more from her, and that video really put a damper on her creative inertia.
I also think people expect her to be some funk/pop act, and she’s not. She’s very eclectic in her music, and certainly covers a broad range of sounds, genres, and styles. Perhaps it’s just that people, being label-minded folks, just don’t know where to put JM. They don’t know how to classify her, because many listeners are more genre-minded than talent-minded. They only want this or that kind of music, opposed to the talent. It’s why people like Rihanna or Drake are popular – because it’s the hype and the product, not the talent. Neither of those could hold a candle to the talent JM has in her pompadour.
Ultimately JM is still finding her audience, whether in the UK or the US. The album is phenomenal, but I still think should should have divided Suite II and Suite III up into two albums, or a double album. It’s a lot to absorb in one take, and putting out Suite III perhaps now, or early 2011, would have been more prudent to ride the wave of new popularity, shown off her talent, and stretched out the whole experience. A double sized album from a newer artist isn’t always a smart move.
I hope she can get past that with her audience, and keep a well-deserved momentum going. She’s a young breath of fresh air on an otherwise stagnant, and sometimes aging, music scene. Unfortunately, music buyers are fickle. “Out of sight, out of mind”, and with her being in the UK for a while, the US has put her on a back burner. My fear is her not recovering from that right away. It’s one thing to have a core fan base, but any artist wants the bigger picture, wider acknowledgement, and great appreciation from the music community at large (which includes peers, listeners, and buyers).
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Trouble is she isn’t really known here either and the tour wasn’t really advertised. We found out through some mailing list and nothing else.
You’re right that she isn’t niche artist but then I wouldn’t say Prince is either – I just wonder if the music buying public is ready for the era of large artists we had in the 80’s. Sadly thanks to Simon Cowell and Co I doubt it very much.
I think Archandroid is the perfect length to be honest – every listen brings new exciting twists.
I was especially impressed how she took songs from a random order across the three suites and still told the story.
I hope and pray thet Suite 4 is fantastic as there is so much riding on it now…
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I totally agree with your assessment of today’s music market. Simon Cowell & thugs like him are fully responsible for the disposable, gimmick driven market that has not only saturated, but flat out devastated an otherwise good music industry (at that point). It really was the beginning of American Idol in America in 2002 that started the downfall of music. It wasn’t boy bands, or pop princesses (we’ve had those for eons anyway), it wasn’t grunge, it wasn’t anything except the ability to make music disposable. I hope that this disposable market will actually work for good.
You can’t just dispose of someone like JM and expect to get away with it. There is something to be said for a truly gifted and talented artist. There is a constant synergy around them that never goes away. The talent never strays. I do believe she will sustain and remain consistent in her efforts. Maybe in this music landscape, it’ll be a slow buildup compared to 10 or 15 years ago when a great talent like her could splash onto the scene and keep people saturated and wanting more for years and years.
(Prince did have a bit of a niche in the beginning, but definitely stretched his wings and showed off his diversity by 1981 or 1982, with 1984 being the huge foot stomp in the swamp of diversity.)
I think, at some point, people are going to get sick and tired of the nonsense, and be starved for good music again; to be hungry and eager to embrace large artists again. It all comes and goes, but the talent remains.
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I suspect the powers that be will realize Janelle is an old school artist who may need a few albums to catch on. The debut is not terribly commercial, is it? If she wants to make great music, she should just keep on keepin’ on, but if she wants to be a chart-topper, she may need to edit a bit.
{Great point above about Cold War – love the song but I could not sit through the video. It’s too early in her career to pull off that stunt}
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