Afro-Punk Festival 2012 in pictures: day 2 (Janelle Monae, TV on the Radio, Reggie Watts, Toro Y Moi and more)

August 28, 2012

Janelle Monáe / TV on the Radio / Pharrell at Afro-Punk Fest 8/26/2012

Slamming together categories — and, when appropriate, bodies — is the ever-expanding mission of the annual Afro-Punk Festival, which returned last weekend to Commodore Barry Park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

It was an event summed up in action by one of its returning headliners, Janelle Monáe. She’s an indefatigable song-and-dance bandleader who gleefully draws on African-American showmen like Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and even Cab Calloway as her lyrics dip into science fiction. Her finale, “Come Alive (War of the Roses),” had a jitterbug-ready beat while Ms. Monáe crowd-surfed like a punk-rocker: off the stage, into the audience and back onstage for a few more snappy steps. – [NY Times]

Day 2 (8/26) of the 2012 Afro-Punk Fest was an incredibly stacked line-up, with TV on the Radio, Janelle Monáe (who was introduced by Pharrell Williams), Reggie Watts and Toro Y Moi just to name a few. Pictures from Sunday are in this post. Pictures of Day 1 (8/25) are here and here.

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