Janna Pelle Plays Pianos, NYC

A ballerina twirled and moved around gracefully on the stage before us, an entrancing visual to Janna Pelle’s vocals floating through the speakers. As she made her way to the stage, a video of Janna in various locations, outfits and poses served as a backdrop behind the drummer for the entire night. As she performed a song cheekily called “Beyonce,” she immediately reminded me of Lady Gaga. Not in a garish, costume-y way, but in the sense that she kills it on the piano, and performs with her entire body. She’s also been likened to Tori Amos and Fiona Apple, which is entirely fitting and obvious on the song “Machine.”

Additional nods to strong women during the night came in the form of a cover of Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s smash, “Empire State of Mind,” which never fails to get a crowd sing-a-long underway, and a shout out to her mom who came all the way from Miami to support her. Another highlight was a song dedicated to her father that was downright beautiful, and on the flipside, a completely unexpected oddball cabaret, as a crowd-goer took the stage dressed as what I can only describe as a character in a deck of cards and sang about how much she wanted Janna while removing her outfit. Strange, but still entertaining.

A special treat was Janna debuting the video for her song “City Life,” which features various shots of Janna in varying levels of body paint throughout the city. Finally, the night came to a close with a Polaroid photographer snapping a photo of everyone in the crowd to commemorate the evening.

Article by: Lesley Keller