Janelle Monae

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows From the Last Week in S.F. Music

Janelle Monáe Channels Prince and MJ With the SF Symphony, 5/16/13

Janelle Monáe and her Androids with the San Francisco Symphony Thursday, May 16, 2013 Louise M. Davies Hall Better than: Monáe's last wonderful performance in SF at the 2012 Black and White Ball Last night at Davies Hall, Janelle Monáe pretty much wore the same thing she always wears on stage. ... More >>

Janelle Monae: Show Preview

The High Five: Great New Songs from Janelle Monae, Best Coast, Laura Mvula, and More

Welcome, time-crunched and over-stimulated music fan, to All Shook Down's High Five -- a place where Byard Duncan wades through the shit to find you the hits. Well, five of them, anyway. It's not too much of a stretch to say that this week's selections are united by their meticulous construction. W ... More >>

Black + White For A Night

The Grammys: A Timeline of Madness and Misery

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards happened yesterday. Which we're sure you know already. If you missed it, however, you may have missed some of the weirdest details. So here, for your convenience, is a timeline of events. Get comfortable, 'cause this thing was a three-and-a-half-hour carnival of absurdi ... More >>

President Barack Obama Likes Arcade Fire and the Black Eyed Peas. Yes, Really.

​Yesterday, we found out from a British music news website that, like Santa Claus, Barack Obama keeps a "Nice" list -- or rather a list of people he wants to have supporting him in his re-election campaign. We've seen the list, and alongside all of the alphabetized politicians, business and sports ... More >>

The Best of SF Weekly June Concert Photography

You know it's going to be a good month of concerts when the lineup starts with U2 and ends with Rihanna. Whether small or large, sweet and soulful or eardrum-piercing, you can be sure that SF Weekly was at the concert. Here are the best of the Bay Area June concerts in photos. Christopher Victorio ... More >>

Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae Get Bill Graham Bumpin' (Photos)

Calibree PhotographyBruno Mars last night in S.F.​ Bruno Mars Janelle Monae Mayer Hawthorne Bill Graham Civic Auditorium June 8, 2011 It was just like the Grammys -- well, almost. Rising R&B royals Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae took over Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last night for a look at th ... More >>

Lauryn Hill and Dave Chappelle Drop a Surprise Late-Night Show on Oakland

Lauryn Hill at the New Parish last night.​Lauryn HillDave ChappelleApril 13, 2011 (Actually April 14)@ The New Parish, OaklandBetter than: A good night's sleepWhen the news hit Twitter Wednesday afternoon, it seemed like a prank: Lauryn Hill and Dave Chappelle had announced a last-minute show at t ... More >>

Going Big and Going Broke: Promoter Robbie Kowal on 15 Years of Putting on Concerts in S.F.

Sunset Promotion's John Miles (left) and Robbie Kowal​Tonight, with its Mardi Gras Ball at Mezzanine*, Sunset Promotions celebrates 15 years of putting on parties and concerts in San Francisco. Its resume includes the Sea of Dreams New Year's Eve parties, the North Beach Jazz Festival, and SF ... More >>

The 2011 Grammys, A Timeline: Lady Gaga's Boob Armor, Who Is Lady Antebellum, and What the Hell is Cee-Lo Wearing?

In which we sit through three and a half hours of Grammys twaddle, so you don't have to: 8:01 p.m.: Show opens with an Aretha Franklin montage. Okay... 8:03 p.m.: Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch, Yolanda Adams, and Martina McBride perform "Natural Woman" together, then take i ... More >>

Free Opera, Canada's Bonjay, Surf Music Party, Glitter Wizard, and More

Howard KanGlitter Wizard plays Hemlock Tavern this Sunday​These unseasonably warm days mean we must party. The city is begging us to invade it, take over clubs and bars, swarm parks, fill galleries; to enjoy its every offering. To maximize the fun, pick events with cheap entry fees. We've got the ... More >>

The Sounds of 2010

What we'll remember from the year in S.F. music.

My Top 10 Tracks of 2010, Apparently a Good Year in S.F. Rock

All hail the Fresh & Onlys, local proprietors of one of my favorite songs of 2010.​No, this isn't some not-so-sly effort at hometown boosterism. Three of my favorite songs from this year just happen to come from artists who nominally call S.F. home. Seriously. Anyway, some of the others on her ... More >>

Download a Free 8-Song Mashup of Big Boi and The Black Keys

​If you like a little juxtaposition with your year-in-review jawns, we've got just the thing for you: The Brothers of Chico Dusty, an unbidden and inspired pileup of two very well-liked 2010 albums by The Black Keys and Big Boi, respectively. Why? Ah, but why not?

Pitchfork's Best Albums List: What It Got Right and What It Got Wrong in 10 Sentences, Pt. II

​Yesterday, we offered our own take on Pitchfork's list of the best albums of 2010 -- or at least the parts of it that had been revealed so far. Today, with the web site's top 20 albums made public, we offer 10 more sentences of agreement, disagreement, and generally glib mischief. Our own list of ... More >>

The Best Bay Area Concert Photos of 2010

Given the dizzying array of musical acts that tramp through San Francisco every year, and the number of those shows our hard-working photographers attend, it was no easy feat to round up their best shots. What follows is a sampling of some of the most exciting, interesting live music photos All Shoo ... More >>

Friday Night: Of Montreal's Superheated Libido Creeps Out the Warfield

Richard HaickOf Montreal's Kevin Barnes​Of MontrealJanelle Monae October 29, 2010 @ The Warfield Better than: taking a bad batch of mushrooms and becoming embroiled in a group-sex scandal. Can we just start by saying that Janelle Monae is shitting mental? 'Cause she is. And her opening set tonig ... More >>

In Print: Summer Concert Photos, Marina and the Diamonds, and Bouncer Gets Fried Cheese

Marina and the Diamonds have a plan for megastardom.​First, an exhortation: pick up the print edition of SF Weekly in the next few days for a full-color page of cool, sexy, ridiculous concert photos from this past summer. You can obviously check 'em out online, but trust us: there's just something ... More >>

10 Bands To See at Outside Lands This Weekend

A stage at Outside Lands 2009​It may not be the greatest Outside Lands lineup ever, but this weekend's big-honkin' music (and wine and food!) festival packs a bicycle basket-full of bands we're stroked (heh, we mean stoked) to see. Here, in no particular order, are 10 of them, plus a few honorable ... More >>

All Shook Down fest wowed thousands at North Beach venues

Last Night: All Shook Down Music Festival in North Beach

Joseph SchellJanelle Monae​All Shook Down FestivalNorth BeachJuly 25, 2010Better Than: Getting all shook down in North Beach for the very first time.Disco dancers, cowboys, glam girls, hipsters, indie rockers, hip-hoppers, sock-hoppers, punk rockers, clash city rockers, category-defiers and more: ... More >>

Janelle Monae's Falling Hair Braid Brings the Superhuman Star Down to Earth

Joseph Schell ​Janelle Monae's live show is such a scripted, immaculate production that the presence of anything unexpected, however slight, stands out. She enters the stage in the same black cloak, dresses underneath in the same black pants and white tuxedo shirt, and whips her hair up into the s ... More >>

All Shook Down Festival: More Crowds, Even More Cupcakes

I've made my way slowly but surely -- navigating around the exponentially growing crowds filling the North Beach streets and random hula hoopers-- to Mojito again, where people are getting down to The Park. Just five minutes until Janelle Monae hits the big stage. We can't wait. Bu ... More >>

All Shook Down Festival: Janelle Monae Has Officially Got It Going On

Taylor FriedmanJanelle Monae​ It's official. Janelle Monae is amazing. The wacky, crazy-cool dance moves; the even wackier black cape she drapes over herself; and her anything-but-wacky, unbelievable pipes. She comes from some other world that only she inhabits, where people with high-collared, r ... More >>

All Shook Down Festival: Off to a Scrumptious Start

Taylor FriedmanThe Jazz Mafia All Stars​ Greetings from the All Shook Down Music Festival! I come to you from Mojito on Grant Avenue, with the Rondo Brothers with the Foreign Globester serving as the perfect soundtrack as I live blog from the event. It's 2 p.m. If you're not here already, why the ... More >>

All Shook Down Festival: It's Not Over Yet!

When we last left off, our friend Janelle Monae had just blown everyone's minds and then left us alone to process everything.We now resume our story with Neon Indian. Alan Palomo and his band played for a crowd of loyal All Shook Down goers willing to withstand the chills for some chillwave electron ... More >>

All Shook Down Festival: Everything You Need to Know Is Right Here

​This is it. We promise. It. The last "we're having a festival and it's going to be awesome and you should come" post. The last one. For this year, anyway.We couldn't resist one final opportunity to guide you, like a friendly Friday afternoon phone tree, through the preliminaries of this Sunday's ... More >>

All Shook Down: SF Weekly's music fest is unlike any other this summer

All Shook Down: A cross-section of the festival schedule

Bradford Cox Says 'Janelle Monae is the New Bowie'

There's still plenty of juice left in the "Janelle Monae is the new [amazing artist here]" meme -- Lady Gaga comparisons are so earlier-this-week -- and lotsa big names that have yet to weigh in on which of their androgynous musical heroes the Atlanta songstress most closely resembles.  Enter D ... More >>

Presenting the All Shook Down Music Festival Schedule

​Here you have it, San Francisco (and Bay Area) music fans: the long-awaited schedule for this year's All Shook Down Music Festival. As you've probably heard by now, the All Shook Down Festival will bring a boatload of local musical talent to stages in North Beach on July 25. Neon Indian, Janelle ... More >>

ASD Lineup Expanded: Sonny & the Sunsets, Ty Segall, Disco Shawn, the Park, Many More

Tanit SakakiniSantero and band perform at the All Shook Down fest on July 25​It is with great (and, yes, self-promotional) pleasure that we announced a wildly expanded lineup for the All Shook Down music festival in North Beach on July 25. In addition to our national headliners -- Janelle Monae an ... More >>

Janelle Monae Walks the Tightrope Again with Lupe Fiasco and B.o.B.

We can't wait to see Janelle Monae perform at our All Shook Down Music Festival later this month, but in the mean time she's given us something to tide us over: a revamped and remixed version of her video for "Tightrope," featuring Lupe Fiasco and B.o.B. Less theatrical than the original "Tightrope" ... More >>

Monday Morning Hangover: Janelle Monae, Cannabis Cup, & Roller Derby

There was no shortage of fun and games last weekend, and our hard-working writers and photographers beat the pavement to bring you news of the fun you missed (or can't remember).Chris Roberts​The city may be losing it over the World Cup, but there was another cup in town this weekend: the first ev ... More >>

Friday Night: How Could Erykah Badu Possibly Seem Exciting After Janelle Monae?

Tom FergusonErykah Badu​Erykah Badu Janelle Monae @The Paramount Theatre, Oakland June 17, 2010 Better than: Watching old Michael Jackson videos on repeat. (Well, maybe not.) There were seats all the way up to the front of the stage at the Paramount last night, and at first they seemed silly: A ... More >>

Neon Indian, Janelle Monae, Jazz Mafia All Stars, More at All Shook Down Music Fest

Neon Indian​That's right: we're throwing a party. This July 25 in North Beach, you can catch Neon Indian and Janelle Monae along with a hefty smattering of local talent -- the Jazz Mafia All Stars, The Ferocious Few, and the Oakland Faders among them -- at the first-ever All Shook Down Music Festi ... More >>

Video of the Day: Janelle Monae Dances on a Tightrope

Clever songstress and style icon Janelle Monae has plenty of fans in San Francisco. But we're not sure if the local masses have been able to catch the pompadoured queen's fancy footwork. In this new video for "Tightrope," the singer vents about walking the line between too much fame and falling ... More >>

Tonight's Album Release Party: Celebrating Cybergirl Janelle Monae

​Janelle Monáe plays hostess tonight at The Renaissance Stanford Court in celebration of her upcoming album The Arch Android. A genre-bending union of brass and ukulele, of wailing soul and hip-hop rhythms, The Arch Android is the sci-fi obsessed, quirky artist's full-length debut. She, and hopef ... More >>

Acrobatic Funk

The nimble artistry of Janelle Monáe.

The nimble funkistry of Janelle Monáe

Last Night: Nneka at Red Devil Lounge

​Nneka January 27, 2010 Red Devil Lounge Better Than: the State of the Union, or the Nigerian underwear bomber Berlin-based Nigerian Nneka delivered an intimate scolding to the crowd Wednesday, while moving them to jerk knees and hips to her radical Afro-funk ballads and ciphers. The chiseled-fac ... More >>

Last Night: Kid Cudi at Regency Ballroom

​Kid Cudi December 15, 2009 Regency Ballroom Better Than: Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, not LeBron James Rap is a memoirist's art, and Kid Cudi's music is some of the most personal rap around. His recordings about loneliness and fears contain an intimate softness, like lullabies sung righ ... More >>

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