Yahoo Lifestyle Mary J. Blige Brings the Passion to Atlanta on the Intimate ‘For My Fans’ Tour: Concert Review
If you’re a Mary J. Blige fan at a tour called “For My Fans,” you’d better know what to do, and how and when to do it. If you’re singing along with her 2007 hit “Just Fine,” you’d better belt “Ooooo!” at the top of your lungs after she hits the song’s title six times.
Of course, the A did not disappoint, and even made a playful but thunderous call-and-response towards the end of the song. The Monday night show at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena was just the third stop on her first tour since her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, “For My Fans”, but she’s already in top form. And of course, her music isn’t the only thing for the fans — she’s got life lessons as well. To kick off the second half of her concert, a pre-produced video vignette was shown.
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“I started to accept all of me, every flaw,” she testified in the video. “I started to see — ‘Shit, I’m not that bad.’ The work is accepting you…. I got work to do on me, because I want to live. You don’t have to wait until you’re perfect to feel worth it…”
The lights went low, and MJB came back out on stage to “Enough Cryin” while standing between two giant statue-like structures of a woman’s forearms and hands. The palms of the hands were open in a receiving manner, and a crown hung above the hands. A hologram bust of Mary with her hair tied up in a bun floated above her. She walked slowly, escorted arm-in-arm by two male dancers, toward the front of the stage, singing with force.
“Don’t wanna play house no more/ So dumb to think you gon’ marry me/ I got to be out my mind to think I need someone to carry me/ I’ve done enough cryin’…”
While most of the action took place on the main stage, Blige actually started off the night on a smaller second stage toward the back of the arena. Prior to her arrival, all eyes were focused forward, but much to everyone’s surprise, the spotlights illuminated the smaller stage, where the house DJ was set up. Blige rose from beneath the stage in a big white fur coat, sunglasses and silver bodysuit with a hood, waving and blowing kisses while the music for “Take Me as I Am” played.
The fans in that section were so close to the stage, they could actually touch it, and as Blige sang and slowly walked toward the front via a runway, she bent over to slap fives and shake hands of her admirers.
“ATL, I see you!,” she said after the song finished. “I’ve always wanted to be in the audience with the fans. I always said I wish I could give everybody a big hug and shake their hands. It must feel like a dream! Thank y’all for blessing me, thank y’all for loving me. Y’all ready?”
She then lanched into “A Dream,” fittingly enough. A colossal crown came down from above onto the stage as the song came to a close — big enough that Mary herself could fit in it. The royal headdress carried the Queen (via wired cables) above the crowd. Landing gently on the mainstage, Mary hit heavily with her mainstays, including “Mary Jane (All Night Long),” “I Can Love You” and “No More Drama,” dipping occasionally into newer jams from her latest album “Gratitude,” like “Need You More” and “Still Believe in Love.”
During her biggest ballads, like “I’m Going Down” and “Not Gon’ Cry,” she let the ladies in the audience take over, holding the mic out while the audience crooned in unison.
Towards the end of the latter however, it seemed like Mary caught the Holy Ghost: “I’m not! I’m not!” she shouted a dozen times, like a pastor on Sunday morning. Those were not song lyrics — she was releasing raw feelings.
“You can’t make me! I’m not gonna cry! I’ve come too far! I love my peace of mind! You’re not gonna make me cry! I don’t want to hear that bullshit I used to cry over… It’s a new day and I’m a new bitch! I’m not gonna let you do it to me again —ever! I’ve come too far… Dry your tears.”
After the song’s conclusion, she said, “Shiiiit — ladies, we’ve come too far. Peace of mind is worth a billion dollars right now — it really is.”
However, she also told the crowd that she has come to place of healing. She even talked about a transformative conversation she had with her father, who “abandoned” her and sister when they were young,, noting that he suffered PTSD from fighting in the Vietnam war, and she forgave him.
But she ended the evening on a high note with a series of bangers — “Everyday It Rains,” “Be Happy” and the finale “Family Affair.” And for the MJB faithful, that’s exactly what the “For My Fans” tour is.
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