Upcoming Shows
Roadside Graves
w/Bart Budwig
FRIDAY, Aug. 6, 9PM
@ Mikey's GyrosStereopathic on Hypem
Jul
7
Janelle Monae is totally. freaking. awesome. If Diana Ross, Lauryn Hill, and Tina Turner were potatoes, Janelle Monae would be mashed potatoes (and not just because her guitarist looks just like Ike). With the style of a sleek and sophisticated ’40’s era bombshell, she looks like she means business–and that’s because she does. Although I was only able to catch the last two songs of her set, the strong and street-wise vocals she belted out along with her soulful 60’s girl-group stage presence had me cussin’ and cryin’ I hadn’t left work earlier. The music was funky and frantic, recalling James Brown and Motown, while still maintaining modern musical appeal. She and her whole band were clad in classic black and white, and for her last song, she jumped into the crowd, her own afro surfing over a sea of afro-punks…and white boys like me.
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When Saul Williams’ band walked on stage, it looked like one of the Dap Kings, Shredder from Ninja Turtles, and a fighter pilot who was myseriously donning a cape had joined forces and decided to share the spotlight. As Cx Kidtronik/Krak Attak, the DJ/Drummer started checking his beats, you knew that this was about to get crayzay. Saul Williams came out with his trademark face paint and a feather-stabbed fro-hawk. He summoned the spirits of religious, political, mythical, legendary, and philosophical figures throughout history, concluding with Michael Jackson, and then he began his set. The power and command that this man possessed while performing was unlike anything I had witnessed at a concert before. This is obviously due to his background both as a slam poet and, back in the day, as an MC. He spoke with authority and predicted the future as though he were a prophet. He convicted and then restored his audience like he was preaching from the pulpit. He informed and challenged in a way that transformed him into a mad professor, and his fans, his students. The urgency and honesty in his voice, the energy in his gyrations, and the cool wit of his words made you want to believe in anything he said or did. After maybe 7 or 8 songs, he did a cover of Bjork’s ‘Declare Independence,’ which he pulled off really, really well, and then he invited one of his friends, a rapper with an upcoming album, to take the floor for a little while–a shameless promotion that nobody seemed to mind. As his rhymes got faster and Krak Attak’s beats went berzerk, the audience formed a space within it’s core that was half dance circle, half mosh pit–too aggressive for dancing, too joyful for moshing (a krumping circle, maybe?). When Williams took the mic back, the crowd was jumpin’ and he sang a few more songs before finishing with his cover of Sunday, Bloody Sunday from his acclaimed …Niggy Tardust album, which got the krumping circle to come into creation again–also, SUCH a good cover. One guy crowdsurfed his way onto the stage and Williams passed him the mic so Saul could get his own turn to float on the hands of his fans. After a benediction reminding everyone that we were there to celebrate life, Williams made some closing remarks and finished the night off.
The AfroPunk Festival is an annual summer event held in Uptown Brooklyn, at least in part by BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), celebrating the films, music, and movement that black punk culture has begotten.
Nathan Asher lives in New York, where he works for an educational research firm and scours the City for good espresso. He has an appreciation for old and curious things, and he likes his music loud: www.myfloatinghome.wordpress.com
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