This morning, I found myself listening to random tracks from the music playlist on my Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2. A couple of tracks—Anthony David’s “Words” and Ledisi’s “In The Morning”—played successively and it immediately brought a smirk to my face. That brings me to this week’s moment in the Flashback Friday series: the concert at The Tabernacle.
How I first came across this moment? The moment presented itself when I prepping for a month-long vacation to the United States during my residence in Tokyo in the Summer of 2009. I scored a couple of tickets from Live Nation to a concert being held on June 19 at The Tabernacle in Downtown Atlanta. Ledisi, who I had actually seen just 5 months earlier at the Cotton Club in Tokyo, was performing with Anthony David opening for her. For this particular occasion, I invited a friend of mine from social media. It was my first time meeting her in person and we had a similar interest in music and with Atlanta being her city, I figured it’d be good to have her as my +1. We had balcony seats in that rather antiquated venue but they were pretty solid seats…only cost me $85 combined. Anthony David opened and he performed tracks from 3 Chords & The Truth (2004), The Red Clay Chronicles (2006), and Acey Duecy (2008). He had the capacity crowd amped up. By the time Ledisi made her appearance, we were buzzing. She came on and performed tracks from Soulsinger: The Revival (2000), Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue (2002), and Lost & Found (2007) in which she cycled through like 3 dress changes. She also performed “Goin’ Thru Changes” from Turn Me Loose, which was released 2 months after the concert.
What it meant to me then? At the time, it was what it was…a good show. It was my first concert on American soil since attending a Rihanna concert 3 years earlier. My friend seemed to enjoy herself and that meant a great deal to me, considering it was the first time me and her kicked it in live person. The performance really put Anthony David on my radar and it showed me that artists really go out in their performances in America as Ledisi was really mellow in her performance at the Cotton Club but extremely flamboyant in Atlanta.
What it means to me now? Looking back on it, I still feel the same about it. It represents the last concert I’ve attended in Atlanta. Actually, until I attended a particularly horrible R. Kelly performance earlier this year, it was the most recent concert I attended in a large performance venue. Even now, as I realized then, I’m not comfortable with music performances in such settings.
