With only two chances to see the queen of neo-soul without shelling out hundreds for Bluesfest tickets, fans in Melbourne and Sydney flocked to catch a glimpse of the woman who put her distinctive touch on r n’ b, hip hop, and jazz on seminal records like Baduizm, Mama’s Gun, and Worldwide Underground.
The Palais Theatre seemed a fitting venue for the royalty in appearance on the night. Its elegance, formality, and style provided a welcome change from other modern band rooms.
Grammy nominees and favourites among Pharrell, Questlove, and Prince are Hiatus Kaiyote, who played the supporting role. Their twisted arrangements, virtuoso performances, and future-soul style wowed the captivated Melbourne audience. Vocalist Nai Palm’s voice and charisma are out of this world, accompanied perfectly by the ensemble’s skill, concentration, and cohesiveness.
As they moved deftly through songs, jams, and medleys, the crowd became entranced with the group’s forward-thinking style, jilted grooves, and technical prowess. Crowd favourites ‘Nakamarra’ and ‘Shaolin Monk Motherfunk’ were received with awe and cheer as their set drew to a close.
As many took the opportunity to have a drink and a breather, a live twitter feed appeared on the stage backdrop to amuse those who were happy to stay seated while waiting for the headliner. “Getting educated from the queen” and “out for a night with my laaadiieeeeez” seemed to be the general type of response to this opportunity, and after 25 minutes of inane chatter, many appeared restless. What next? Vine videos?
Yep.
House lights went down, stage lights went up, the DJ made his way on stage, and the show began. Erykah Badu’s entire vine channel was on repeat. Amusing for roughly three minutes, this stalling tactic worked for some and not others.
When Badu made her way on to the stage after 20 minutes, all was forgiven. Her presence was gigantic. It filled the room as the crowd went ballistic. Appearing as some kind of mystic in a mirror-ball jacket, the artist slowly found her place behind the mic and next to her drum machine.
Weaving her way through parts of her entire back catalogue, Badu displayed each and every one of the unique qualities that made her famous 20 years ago in Dallas, Texas. Tracks such as ’20 Feet Tall’, ‘On And On’, and crowd favourite ‘The Healer’ reminded everyone why Badu’s legacy is so important.
The singer-songwriter moved through a number of personalities throughout her set. During ballads she could be sweet, soulful, and delicate. Synth-laden, up-tempo numbers showcased her aggression and fervor, while her mid-song banter was relaxed, humorous, considered, and regularly bordered on new-age ridiculousness such as, “20 years ago on this night the planets were in the same alignment, we’re operating on the same frequency and it’s beautiful”. All dramatics aside, this added to her god-like stage presence and fans lapped it up.
The show approached perfection a number of times but was held back by a few small factors. Badu’s choice to spend 15 minutes of the show outlining her brother/drummer’s role in the production of Worldwide Underground by playing short snippets of songs via the DJ’s decks seemed like a drawn-out and shameless plug of her sibling’s skillset, and left the audience a bit frustrated when it eventually lead to nowhere. While it can be understood that the show was all about Badu, it was also a shame to see her band of world-class musicians only given a few chances to open up and express themselves and their talent to the crowd.
These are only small negatives in an otherwise positive evening filled with beautiful vocals, trademark attitude, classic songs, slick performances, and an audience that was held captive by her every move.
