Mary J. Blige shines in Atlanta on her ‘For My Fans Tour’
R&B royalty Mary J. Blige returned to State Farm Arena on Monday, Feb. 3. for a stop on her “For My Fans Tour”. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and multi-platinum recording artist has a way of inviting her fans into her concerts and on this night she was fully engaged, sometimes turning the microphone towards and crowd while they sang along to her songs.
“ATL, I love y’all. I’m going to need all the real Mary J. Bilge fans to make some noise,” she said.
And noise they made. The tour date in Atlanta is the only one of the tour and Blige wasted no time giving fans what they came for: pure Mary J. Blige vocals and the occasional dance solo.
Blige is familiar with Atlanta crowds and they with her. She most recently made a stop in Atlanta for her “Good Morning Gorgeous” tour in September 2022 and saw a sold-out crowd looking back at her from the stands and floor seats. Ella Mai and Queen Naija opened for her on that tour and “For My Fans” is switching it up with two male performers this time around. The same results occurred however, with thousands of fans singing along to classic Mary J. Blige songs such as “Share My World,” “I’m Going Down,” and “Take Me As A I Am.”
She also spent time going through a couple of songs off her 2024 album, “Gratitude,” including “You Ain’t The Only One” and her latest relationship anthem, “Don’t Fuck Up.”
During the show Blige made several costume changes, going from a white fur coat when she came on stage for the first time, to a purple sequin short set, a silver sequin pants suit, and later in the show, a black leather jacket, corset, and matching thigh-high boots. The latter being a signature throughout her decades-long career. Advertisements for the “Mary Boot” were displayed on the arena’s many digital big screens.
At one point during her performance, Blige opened up about her divorce and what she described as mental abuse. She does this often, and it usually is successful in getting the crowd even more emotionally engaged in the show than they already are.
“Piece of mind is worth a billion dollars right now,” Blige said.
Ne-Yo and Mario opened for Mary J. Blige and both took command of their sets while on stage. Despite Ne-Yo’s microphone going dead two minutes into his 45-minute performance, he had the crowd in the palm of his hands the entire time. Songs like “She Got Her Own”, ” Champagne Life”, and “Sexy Love,” had the capacity crowd singing along, dancing, and finishing the lyrics before Ne-Yo was done making his point.
When he broke into his first single, “So Sick,” the noise was deafening inside State Farm Arena. “Said I’m so sick of love songs……” echoed through the crowd.
“It don’t matter about technical difficulties. It don’t matter if God said we keep going, we keep going,” said Ne-Yo midway through his electric performance. His team of six female dancers were equally as electric during the performance, even bringing out a couple of folding chairs in order to perform sexy dance moves alongside a seated Ne-Yo. I’ll allow your imaginations to paint the visuals of that performance.
“Miss Independent” and “Time of Lives” kept the energy flowing throughout the performance, but a surprise appearance from Keri Hilson for a performance of one of her most popular songs, “Knock You Down,” which Ne-Yo penned in 2009, was a highlight of the show.
Mario opened the show and played the hits during his 25 minutes on stage. Hit songs like “Let Me Love You,” “How Do I Breathe,” and “Just A Friend 2002” were sandwiched between songs off his 2024 album, “Glad You Came.” Mario was well-received throughout his performance but looked rushed when he had the lights come back on midway through thanking the fans for their support.
The “For My Fans” tour is scheduled to make stops in Columbia, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa and Hollywood, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Chicago; Las Vegas; St. Louis, St. Paul; Minnesota, and multiple stops in California, including at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
For everyone in those cities and the other cities on the tour, they are in for one heck of a show. Mary J. Blige is on a mission to not only reach her fans, but engage with them, and be with them. For the fans indeed.
