On day two of the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, headliner Solange performed a string of hits for a packed house in her new hometown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For one hour, she gave us a window into her world and we were completely hers. With her giant afro, green chiffon shorts, matching jacket and chunky, diamond heels, Sol-Angel was a pixie on her own cosmic journey and we were happy to be along for the ride. When she jumped, we jumped. When she sang, we sang every word. When she body-rolled–we did our best just to keep up. Because even in the shrouded darkness and anonymity of the crowd, we weren't as free as she was on stage under bright lights.

Though we hear her uninhibited heart in her melodies and lyrics, seeing her perform magnified the experience.  As we're jumping up and down to her deceptively upbeat track "Losing You," the lyrics of a young woman in denial about the love that's been lost finally have their full and devastating weight when Solange sang them raw in front of us.  And with each series of high notes she effortlessly hit while putting her full body into her dance, we witnessed the intersection of art and purpose. Ending her criminally-short performance on a "Hadley Street Dreams" favorite, she sang "Sandcastle Disco" and blew us all away.  

Brooke Obie