I was there.

Janelle Monae & Of Montreal at First Avenue, Thursday, September 23, 2010. Hearing Janelle Monae sing live... I think it changed my life. Listen. But really just get everything Janelle Monae has ever done. And please, please, PLEASE! never EVER turn down a chance to see her live.

It took me two weeks of frantic searching to get my ticket, but it was absolutely worth it.
I wasn't paying attention to time constraints (typical), and to my dismay the show was already sold out four weeks in advance. At first I gave up, but the more I thought about the duo, the more I heard about their collaborative work on these two albums, the more I began to feel I NEEDED to be there. I needed to see this -- I needed it to become a part of my personal music history. I posted on Facebook, trolled Craigslist, told everyone I knew that I was on the hunt for tickets. I listened to the Current avidly, waiting for giveaways. On Monday, I was caller #7. CALLER SEVEN! But no dice! On Tuesday, I found tickets for $50 on Craigslist, but my budget seemed too stretched to make that work. It just didn't seem to be happening for me.

On Wednesday, Dad called. "Julia, I've been searching Craigslist all day. One ticket for $35 was just posted!" "DAD! OMG!" Brief period of jumping for joy, multiple calls back and forth, and logistics planning. Dad saves the day. Yesterday it was raining, so he drove me to the concert. Aleisha (the woman who sold me the tickets) said to him in an email, "You are the best dad ever." No duh.

My review as I wrote to Mary Lucia today when she asked the Current listeners to tell her about it:
"j. monae did her cover of 'smile', just her and her guitarist, absolutely WORKING that song. i cried. i can't say it's the first time i've cried with joy at first ave but this was a different, transcendent moment.

"of montreal was great, the crowd was super into it and bopping around, but it dragged a little for a portion when they brought out this giant 'tv' screen. that kind of killed the mood for a minute. but as usual, super sexual, super groovy, super super. ended the show with a giant vacuum-cleaner papier-mache alien blowing feathers all over everyone. it was silly! i loved it.

"and THEN, the encore -- thriller medley, everyone from both bands dancing onstage, the crowd going NUTS. it was fantastic. kevin and janelle make a good pair, their interactions were really sweet and intimate (interesting juxtaposed with both of their sets, which i would describe as 'intense').

"COOL MUSIC. 10 out of 10."