Concerts

“Your mission tonight is to not think about the past,” Janelle Monáe proclaimed at their dazzling Age of Pleasure Tour stop at Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday night. “New York, your mission tonight [is] to not think about the future.”
With those two directives, Monáe fostered not just an endlessly captivating atmosphere of entertainment, but also a haven of safety, acceptance, freedom and positivity — if only for two hours and change.

Monáe kicked off their latest nationwide trek in support of her fourth studio album of the same name, a summery reggae-tinged embrace of revolutionary pleasure politics that, to some, read as antithetical to the soulful, cerebral concept albums that shot Monáe to fame. Throughout their nearly two-hour set — which featured strong opening sets from producer and DJ Nana Kwabena and the Internet’s favorite sprinters, rap duo Flyana Boss — Monáe seamlessly tied the vision and mission of The Age of Pleasure to the rest of her discography, as well as the rest of Black music history.

With the show’s first chapter — “Chapter 1: A Thousand Versions of the Self” — Monáe immediately situated the audience in an exploration of the multiplicity of the individual. At once an epic leader presiding over a court of background dancers in a Midsommar-esque costume and a slinky twerk queen in a bootylicious black bodysuit, Monáe revels in all the different versions of herself — and they’re all “fine as f—,” as she chants on “Phenomenal,” a standout Age of Pleasure track that morphed into a moment of communal affirmation during the show. The focus on the self quickly evolved into a focus on community, with the help of songs like “Q.U.E.E.N.” and an onstage audience-centric dance party — featuring Emmy-nominated Pose actress Michaela Jaé Rodriguez! — soundtracked by “Paid in Pleasure.”

The foundation of Monáe’s stage show is her penchant for the theatrical — a stylistic choice that evoked several Black performing legends, thus properly contextualizing the different genre tilts of The Age of Pleasure. Monáe frequently opts for exaggerated accents, animated facial expressions, and a no-holds-barred approach to choreography that recalls the intensity of James Brown. In fact, the show’s choreography is equally important in further contextualizing The Age of Pleasure. In a dance break after their rendition of “Phenomenal,” Monáe breaks out into the Charleston, connecting the brassy embellishments of reggae with Harlem Renaissance-era jazz. There’s also “Pynk” — which featured the return of Monáe’s instantly iconic “p—y pants”– a rock-tinged empowerment anthem that dripped with a carnal ecstasy similar to Rick James. That’s not to mention the elongated dance break preceding the show’s encore — spoiler: it’s a double-header of “Make Me Feel” and “Tightrope” — which sits somewhere between the iconography of Michael Jackson and the statuesque poses of Grace Jones. To that end, the choreography of “Phenomenal” included elements of ballroom hand performance, another nod to the thread of Black queer culture that runs throughout the album and tour.

Monét’s Betty Boopian energy paired well with the show’s mise en scène; towers of tan-colored speakers evoked the getaway beach paradise that Monáe’s rendering of Pleasure™ aims to embody. Radio City Music Hall’s proscenium arch helped drive home the more theatrical parts of the show, with some of Monáe’s mid-song quips and speeches having the endearing air of an off-Broadway musical. When she assumed a more militant disposition for “Django Jane” — one of the highlights of the night — she briefly acknowledged the fact that the darker parts of the world never truly disappear, but choosing to “reach for love” is the true war at hand.

Although Monáe completely enraptures any venue they perform in, certain moments during Tuesday night’s show begged for an arena-sized space. No two songs captured this better than “Electric Lady” and “Yoga” — two songs that predate Age of Pleasure by several years but still lend themselves to powerhouse performances. From her wailing vibrato to her inimitable energy, instrumental prowess, and effortless swagger, Monáe’s rendition of “Electric Lady” was easily the apex of the night. It was “Yoga,” however — with its yoga-inspired choreography and ominous lighting design — that most plainly drew a connection between The Age of Pleasure and earlier periods in Monáe’s catalog.

When a performer is as impressive and multifaceted as Monáe, it’s easy to undersell just how skilled they are at each element of their stage show. In addition to their slick dance skills and commanding presence, Monáe also flaunted their vocal chops with ambitious live arrangements that infused The Age of Pleasure’s Afrobeats and reggae flourishes with a healthy dose of jazz and Black church breakdowns. A slowed-down final “Lipstick Lover” verse and an intimate rendition of “Only Have Eyes 42” provided the night’s strongest vocal moments — reminding the audience that Monáe’s talents are genuinely limitless.

Toward the end of the night, Monáe delivered a pair of moving speeches. In the first speech, they plainly stated their mission for The Age of Pleasure: “The focus was not on division or the hate, ’cause we know. We’re online, we see what divisive tactics look like. But The Age of Pleasure is about us creating a safe oasis, for us by us. This is what it looks like when you feel safe. This is what it feels like when you respond to love.”

In their second, more personal speech, Monáe recounted how their family would support their dreams by bringing them to a performing arts high school in New York City many moons ago. She then broke down into tears mid-sentence, clearly overwhelmed as she registered the complete realization of their life-long dreams in real time. A beautifully touching moment that framed the encore segment perfectly, Monáe’s personal addresses to the crowd helped her pause the theatrics for a moment and develop an even deeper and more nuanced connection with the NYC crowd. For a few hours, Monáe was able to successfully conjure up a moment of escapism that doubled as an exercise in individual and communal healing.

Ending the night with towering performances of “Make Me Feel” and “Tightrope” — with the latter featuring a costume reminiscent of their ArchAndroid days — Monáe further cemented themselves as one of the truly marvelous all-around performers we have.