The Lights Go On, The Music Dies

Robyn @ Webster Hall 8/5/2010

Fembot / Cry When You Get Older / Cobra Style / Dancing On My Own / Who’s That Girl? / Dancehall Queen / The Girl And The Robot / Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do / Be Mine! // Dream On / With Every Heartbeat

Robyn “Dancing On My Own”

I saw Robyn perform a few weeks ago at the Pitchfork festival in Chicago, and it was nice. But it was nothing like this. This show was intense, the response to the music was exactly what you’d hope for when you imagine a Robyn concert in your mind. Aside from one show being a festival gig and the other being a club show, the major difference is that the audience at Webster Hall was about 80% gay men. Gay men are pretty much the best audience ever — passionate, devoted, eager to dance, sing along, and show the artist love. You might think I am overrating this, but if you’re thinking that you probably haven’t seen a show under similar conditions. Anyway, the emotional and physical energy hit its peak with “Dancing On My Own.” Feelings of insecurity and sorrow for unrequited love were channeled into this beautiful, absolutely perfect dance pop song, making a lie of the title phrase — we may all have been in our heads, but we definitely weren’t dancing on our own.

Buy it from Amazon.

Kelis @ Webster Hall 8/5/2010

Emancipate / Scream / Trick Me / Holiday – Milkshake / 4th Of July / Lil Star / Brave / 22nd Century / Millionaire / Get Along With You / Acapella

Kelis “Acapella”

I want to like Kelis’ dance diva make-over more than I do. “Acapella” is amazing and undeniable, but the rest of her new album is just shy of her mark. A lot of it comes down to the hooks — they are there, but aside from the best bits of “Acapella,” they’re sorta vague and overly repetitive, and don’t have quite enough emotional resonance. Kelis is trying hard though, and I give her a lot of credit, even if it seems like a pretty blatant grab for a gay audience now that she doesn’t have much of a place in R&B or mainstream pop. She’s a good performer, or at least a flashy one — she looked kinda like a black version of Dazzler from the X-Men — and older songs like “Millionaire” and a mash-up of Madonna’s “Holiday” and her hit “Milkshake” came off well. She’s not totally there just yet, but I can see her growing into this new act over time.

Buy it from Amazon.