Atlanta Music Scene

Where the widely-regarded Queen of Hip-Hop Soul co-headlined with hip-hop giant Jay-Z (above) in April, this time around she was the main attraction. And deservedly so. While her latest CD, “Growing Pains,” has not been a huge commercial success — and it couldn’t have been great to look out onto a crowd that was one-quarter Lakewood’s capacity — Blige arrived on the stage with a big smile on her face. She danced through the first part of the show with the spirit of the upstart she was back in 1992. She sang her signature hit “No More Drama” as if she were reliving every hurt right there on stage. And for encores “Family Affair” and “Just Fine” she was back dancing — and belting — with the heavily-female audience matching her every unabashed move in the aisles.

Opening for Blige on what was billed as The Love Soul tour was Robin Thicke. And while the relative newcomer has three solo CDs to his credit (including new CD “Something Else,” the No. 3 album in the country) the most enthused response to the singer may have been to his closing takes on D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar,“ Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and even a bit of Lil Wayne’s “A Milli”.

Were you there last night — and if so, how would you rate the concert? Surprised more people didn’t attend? And if you’ve heard it, what do you think of Blige’s “Growing Pains”?