For a show as wonderfully weird as HBO’s Lovecraft Country, the celebration around the finale needed to be similarly eccentric. Luckily, Janelle Monáe delivered a performance that won’t soon be forgotten.
On Monday (Oct. 19), HBO hosted their final Lovecraft Country: Sanctum event to coincide with the show’s season one finale that took place on Sunday night (Oct. 18). The VR experience offered exclusive access via online application VR Chat to a world inspired by the show, where fans could interact with one another while experiencing a digital world for themselves.
Guests at Monday night’s event were treated to a very special performance from Monáe titled “Music of the Cosmos,” in which the actress/singer appeared as a towering, 3D avatar of herself. “Yes, you’re in virtual reality, and you are in the future, and you will have a liberating, transformative experience,” Monáe proclaimed at the outset of her performance. “This experience is meant to remind you of your power, of who you are, and what you are capable of doing and being. This is Black joy.”
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The star launched into a 15-minute set, during which she performed her hits “Django Jane,” “Americans” and “Come Alive (War of the Roses),” taking a moment before each song to explain why she chose it for the special, and what the song meant to her. Throughout the show, fans could answer riddles posed on screen to set off “spells” that served as fun special effects throughout the set.
“I really hope you enjoyed this one-of-a-kind experience,” she said at the end of her performance, before a beam of light enveloped her avatar. “Thank you so much for joining us. We’ll see you in the future.”
Check out Janelle Monáe’s full VR performance from Lovecraft Country: Sanctum below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI3a8pSQWDE&feature=emb_title
This story first appeared on billboard.com
