The Hollywood Bowl welcomed this iconoclast on September 25. Review by Harriet Kaplan, photos by John Snedden
At 74-years-old, Grace Jones is as stylish and commanding as ever defying the passage of time with a career-spanning act really like no other when firstshe bursting on to the entertainment scene in the 1970s to now. The Jamaican-born artist has literally conquered music, fashion and film and has created trends no one can match or come close to matching.
Jones has set the bar so high and uniquely no other artist (past or present) can match. She is an original being, a spirit. The Jamaican-born artist really wowed the audience at the Hollywood Bowl on September 25th and absolutely shows no signs of slowing down. Jones captivated and held court (after all, she is an icon and queen!) with her non-sequitur type conversations with the audience, her witty, off-beat asides and random segues.
Jones continues to be bold and brazen as ever. Her costumes were daring art=- inspired perhaps by the late great Keith Haring- with towering heels (both feminine and androgynous). Her relatively short set with 10 songs featured a number of cover songs for which she is renowned for “making her own” and provocative and defiant original numbers. Unfortunately, she didn’t perform “On Your Knees” or showcase her new duet (“Move”) from Beyonce’s new album “Renaissance.”
However, rumor has it, that Grace Jones will be releasing a new album soon and is currently on a several city tour. GET READY!
SETLIST:
Nightclubbing (Iggy Pop)
This is
Private Life (The Pretenders)
Demolition Man
My Jamaican Guy
Williams’ Blood
Amazing Grace (John Newton)
Love is the Drug (Roxy Music)
Pull Up To The Bumper
Slave to the Rhythm
Check out the review of Chvrches from this same night here.
Opener:
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul has created dynamic mid-2000s electro pop and rock on their debut album, Tropical Dancer. This LP takes on racism, misogyny and xenophobia. The lyrics range from English to French to Creole. The duo exuberantly unleashed it on the crowd. This eclectic Belgian act has a lot of fun performing live together. They also have a great, creative chemistry together and buoyantly dance around excitably and joyfully. The way the duo fired off lyrical punchlines it really does feel like an it’s an in-joke per se with all people at the Bowl were in on it. The unique, attention-grabbing show was a non-stop mix of varying elements including builds, breaks and drops, plus bass solos, choreography and the requisite crowd participation.
The lively and creative set was relatively short with five songs. Two numbers in particular really stood out. “HAHA” which is a laugh sampled and worked into a strutting hook with the chorus morphing into a sob was something really to behold live, quite intriguing and memorable. “Blenda” takes a racist line and creates a singsong you wouldn’t soon forgot: “Go back to your country where you belong” and then Adigery nicely intones: “Siri, can you tell me where I belong?”
Set List
Blenda
Making Sense Stop
Patenipat
HAHA
Ceci n’est pas un cliché
Check out the review of Chvrches from this same night here.
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