Jones as seductive, outlandish as ever
Singer’s bold breaks with convention show why imitators repackage her acts to shock
Grace Jones was only 30 minutes late taking the stage at the Fox Theater on Saturday night. That’s not bad for an artist who famously operates on her own time, in the past showing up for concerts some three hours after the scheduled start time, if at all.
Inside the ornate Oakland venue, the atmosphere felt like a pre-party for the Folsom Street Fair, with fans strutting around in leather and glitter. Several were dressed up like Jones clones, representing the singer through various phases of her career — from Studio 54 fixture to Bond girl in “A View to a Kill.” But none came close to the real thing. As the curtain dropped, Jones, 67, appeared standing on a small platform at the center of the stage, wearing a silver skull mask with feathers protruding from the top, an
under-bust corset and a piece of linen billowing over the rest of her svelte figure, which was covered with nothing more than white body paint in a Keith Haring-inspired pattern.
Below her in the dark, a six-piece band and two backup singers masterfully recreated the lithe disco, minimalist funk and progressive new wave sounds of her turn-of-the-’80s imperial phase, while two male dancers twirled in and out of view.
As she revisited classics like “Nightclubbing” and “Walking in the Rain,” she revealed that her voice remains as seductive as ever, as does her wicked sense of humor.
Jones, 67, has a new memoir out, entitled “I’ll Never Write My Memoirs.” That’s sufficient reason for this brief tour, even though the release date for a promised new album inspired by African sounds, “She,” remains uncertain.
On Saturday, she performed a song from it with a stage production that felt like an outtake from the Broadway musical “The Lion King.” Among the other set pieces, it felt understated.
Jones’ most recent album, “Hurricane,” meanwhile, came out in 2008; and the one before that 19 years earlier. With or without new material, she remains a remarkably relevant cultural figure.
In the book, Jones takes aim at perceived imitators like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj.
Watching her live, it’s easy to understand why.
During her 75-minute set at the Fox, Jones exhibited the boldness, daring and willingness to break convention that her followers have merely repackaged for shock value.
She performed “My Jamaican Guy” wearing an open poncho and polka dot dildo, dangling her leg over the platform railing while bending her body as far back as it could go. During “Nipple to the Bottle,” she casually grabbed her bare left breast, shook it at the crowd and sang, “You suck too much.”
Jones swapped outfits between every song, taking the microphone backstage to keep the audience engaged before she returned with another elaborate sartorial creation that made her look part insect, part alien.
“I woke up too early this morning,” she said at one point. “I should not have gone to sleep.”
She performed an a cappella version of “Amazing Grace” and an accelerated take of her cover of Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug” under a single strand of light.
By the time she got to the thrillingly funky “Pull Up to the Bumper,” she was roaming through the audience, prompting everyone in the room to sing along.
She brought out a hula hoop for her final song before the encore, “Slave to the Rhythm,” and kept it spinning around her hips throughout the tune, the introduction of the band members and each one’s solo spotlight as the crowd roared with delight.
“I wish I had an audience like this every night,” she said.