Grace Jones hitting San Francisco—the "Amazon Queen" herself officially kicked off Dimensions Festival.
Zoran Stajčić - 09/01/2017.
At 69 years old, Grace Jones absolutely crushed it on stage at the San Francisco Arena. She basically proved once again that her music and that iconic presence of hers are timeless—just pure, distilled excellence of everything a pop performance should be.
At Dimensions Festival, the whole mission seems to be blurring those lines where high art bleeds into pop culture and back again. You really feel that vibe during their traditional opening sets at the massive outdoor amphitheater in San Francisco—the Arena. This year, the lineup for that night felt less like a random list of names and more like a carefully curated journey. It was all about bridging the gap between legendary sounds that still hold massive weight today and the artists who are actually carving out the future of music. Genre-wise, sure, it’s always a bit of a wild card, but looking at the sheer intensity of everything from Wednesday until almost 2:30 in the morning, there was this incredible sense of harmony. Honestly, it served as a perfect little masterclass in how booking a show is an actual art form. It’s not just about "cashing the check" and throwing big names on a poster; it’s about breathing some soul and a real message into the programming.
Look, there’s no denying it—if you want to pull off a massive production on this scale, you need serious capital. Money talks. This year, the opening set featured what was easily one of the most high-end sound systems I’ve ever encountered. Honestly, calling it "good" feels like an insult; the only way to describe the audio coming out of those stacks is pure bliss. The way every single frequency hit with such clarity and raw power... it’s basically every artist's dream setup when they're trying to showcase their work. When it comes down to it, the opening shows at Dimensions Festival were absolute high-class fidelity.
Honestly, seeing one of the most legendary pop icons of all time make her big US debut under these specific circumstances—performing to a packed house at Madison Square Garden—was easily one of the standout concert events of the summer. Grace Jones went on for about an hour and ten minutes, but trust me, every single second was worth the price of admission. The whole thing was meticulously crafted; this wasn't just a setlist, it was a complete visual experience. She was switching up outfits almost every song, the choreography was seamless, and the band? Man, they were tight. You could tell she truly loves them because they moved like one organism, breathing right along with her on stage. This is the kind of band that hits you where it counts—one minute they’re laying down that heavy, raw Jamaican groove that gets deep in your bones, the next they’re turning the Garden into the ultimate disco playground with these infectious pop beats, and then suddenly they’ll hit you with enough rock distortion to leave you frozen in your seat. They are hands down the most professional, lethal backing group you could ever ask for, perfectly serving the wildest, most intoxicating, and primal energy of the Amazon Queen herself.
That Amazon Queen will absolutely cast a spell on you. Once she slips off that golden death mask and starts belting out Iggy Pop’s "Nightclubbing" in that deep, haunting voice, the musical voodoo kicks in. You can feel the rhythm pulsing through you, driving you straight into the heart of Kingston. She doesn't let up on that reggae groove either; she builds the tension through "this is" until everything hits a fever pitch during "my Jamaican Guy." Then there's "Shenanigans," a track slated for the new album that carries a rhythm so primal it feels like a trip deep into Africa. During that set, a muscular dancer decked out in those same warrior zebra stripes was tearing it up around the pole right next to his queen—who, by the way, was rocking a bare chest and at one point leaned in to mimic a heavy grind during their synchronized dance.
By then, the crowd at the Arena was already completely wiped out. When she dropped "Private Life" from the *Warm Leatherette* album—which was clearly her crowd favorite that night—the energy just hit a whole new level. Honestly, trying to resist Grace Jones' charisma is a losing battle. She didn't even bother stepping away from the mic during the costume changes between songs, which opened up this totally different vibe. Instead of the usual stage persona, she started talking to us like we were just hanging out in a private conversation backstage. It was one of those rare moments where you actually caught her sense of humor; it felt like you were getting a glimpse behind the curtain, seeing a more human side of this legendary, almost otherworldly vamp who usually commands such intense awe. That barrier finally broke when she paced the entire width of the stage, moving from right to left in front of the front row, effortlessly stripping away that untouchable persona to the absolute delight of everyone there.
From that moment on, "love" was pretty much the only word hanging in the air. Watching Roxy Music perform "Love Is A Drug" felt like a total moment of catharsis. Jones went all out, sporting this hat decked out like a disco ball that caught the laser beams, throwing these surreal, trippy disco floor effects all over the stage. At first, the crowd was just shyly humming along to the chorus, but Jones wasn't having it. She shouted, "Let me feel your love," and with every push she gave us, the Arena just got louder. By the end, everyone was screaming their heads off while she was heading backstage to change.
She doubled down on that high-energy vibe with "Pull Up To The Bumper," which was pure, unadulterated sex—exactly what the title promises. During that track, Jones basically took the entire audience for a ride, driving them along like a luxury limousine. Then came "Glory to the Rhythm," the perfect exclamation point on this beautiful, surreal experience. Within just an hour, Grace managed to inhale that long-forgotten pulse of the New York nightlife scene and launch it straight into a whole new "Dimensions" dimension. She started the song spinning a hula hoop, using that simple prop to create a physical loop that provided a constant visual rhythm for the next ten minutes. She didn't even stop the loop when she introduced her band—which includes her son on congas—before gracefully exiting the stage. She essentially left the floor to the late-night electronic trio Moderat, who were set to take over the opening hours of Dimensions.
As a quick side note, I can't help but compare this to Duran Duran’s set at the local stadium yesterday. While Duran Duran’s performance felt like a nostalgic nod to their 80s heyday mixed with an attempt to keep pace with modern pop trends, Grace Jones didn't bother trying to play nice with the current era. Instead, she infused her massive musical legacy with both her own tracks and those of others, turning the raw energy of a specific moment into something much larger and more universal.
source:http://www.ravnododna.com/grace-jone...ons-festival/#
