Janelle Monáe at Summerstage
Photo by Sachyn Mital

Janelle Monae closed out 2016 SummerStage Series (pics)

The final night for the 2016 Summerstage season belonged to Janelle Monáe, who threw a free show (though you had to be a Capital One member to go). She shimmied and strutted through an energetic 75-minute performance which was tinged with references to current politics (as an intro to “Cold War”). Later on Monáe called out all the weirdos as she offered her support as one of them — she had been told sci-fi doesn’t belong in music.

Nate Ruess (fun.) opened the show around 7 pm playing for an hour and closed with his song “We Are Young” (which features Monáe on the studio cut). DJ Moma occupied the next half hour as the crew turned the stage over for Monáe. Her set included “Cold War”, “Tightrope”, her most recent single “Yoga” and Monáe’s great cover of The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” as well as a few other covers for good measure.

Monáe makes her on-camera, big-screen acting debut in a supporting role in Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, which has screenings in the New York Film Festival this weekend. Both screenings on Sunday and Monday are now standby only.