When I first posted about iamamiwhoami in January of 2010, all I knew about it at the time was that it was the mysterious project of an unidentified artist. People were guessing it was anyone from Goldfrapp to Christina Aguilera (imagine that?). The dust has settled and as we all know now iamamiwhoami is the electronic/multimedia project of Swedish artist Jonna Lee.
It’s been nearly 3 years since I received that first cryptic e-mail from her smart marketing team, and since then she’s released a pair of albums and has begun a tour. Last night she stopped Brooklyn to play at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, her 2nd U.S. show ever.
I have avoided recent live clips of her in order to leave myself totally surprised. I’m glad I did because it made a difference. Lee was backed by 2 synth players, a drummer, a backup female singer, as well as a big white square that lit up to various colors. Her songs ranged from eccentric Björk-esque to weird electronic thumps rivaling The Knife. Lots of dance vibes were born and passed on.
Lee is an impressive vocalist live, and even more impressive on stage. Maneuvering around while dancing, playing her own synth lines and interacting with fans, she does it all. Her fan base leaned towards the younger side, but showed plenty of dedication. They sang back all the words, danced their hearts out, and even gave Jonna Lee a crown to wear. At one point, she joined them in the crowd to dance during a vicious strobe like synth number that resulted in one of the cooler concert moments of the year.
Getting to see iamamiwhoami live was like seeing a fairy tale come to life. If you told me two years ago during the heart of her viral video storm that I would see her perform live in Brooklyn, I wouldn’t believe it. But she is the real deal, and she didn’t leave me disappointed. I would see her again in heartbeat, if she ever does come back around.
Check out some more photos from the show below.
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