Chris Brown ‘breezes’ through 20-year career with lengthy set list in Atlanta
Chris Brown must really love Atlanta.
On Friday, the Grammy winner returned to the city for his third show after performing twice at Truist Park during Labor Day weekend (the two shows were plagued by incessant ticketing issues, causing many fans to miss the concert).
Atlanta is the only city on Brown’s Breezy Bowl XX Tour that he’s visited for three days.
And this time, at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium, the 36-year-old crooner certainly didn’t disappoint his loyal Atlanta fans who’ve rocked with him since his 2005 debut, even amid his controversial past.
Friday night’s concert became a grandiose statement piece for why Chris Brown is one of the biggest stars in the world.
It’s a perplexing truth to digest mainly because of another, less confusing, truth: The singer has a lengthy pattern of abuse and violence. His most recent arrest came just a few weeks before the tour began, when he was detained in the U.K. for an alleged assault at a London nightclub in 2023 (Brown posted bail and pleaded not guilty. The trial is slated to start next fall).
Still, Brown’s career has survived a controversial history thanks to his legion of fans who remain unfazed by his past and are committed to his redemption.
For some, Brown is a troublemaker whose talent is overshadowed by his violent tendencies. For most, Brown is so talented that he’s constantly perceived as Michael Jackson’s successor (a grossly false equivalency. If anyone deserves the label of Jackson’s heir, it should be Usher.)
Brown’s final Atlanta concert of the tour wholly embraced both narratives. At 8:35 p.m., the stadium lights went down, and a video montage celebrating Brown’s 20-year career (which includes 120 Billboard Hot 100 hits and two Grammy wins) played on the big screen to introduce the first of four acts, Rise.
Minutes later, the singer, wearing a custom Breezy Bowl varsity jacket, fittingly opened the show with “Run It!,” his 2005 debut song and his first No. 1 hit. His choreography, with help from his roughly 15 background dancers, still looked as sharp as it did when he was 16.
He breezed through songs like “Gimme That,” “Heat” and “Go Girlfriend.” Hearing more recent songs in the segment titled Rise felt off-putting and confusing, introducing the night’s confounding set list. It would’ve made more sense to dedicate that portion of the show to the star’s earlier hits.
The frequent dance moves often distracted from his gifted vocals, but not enough to dismay the crowd, which was on its feet for most of the show.
For most of the show’s opening, he wore a black Michael Jackson T-shirt, feeding into those nonsensible comparisons.
The show’s second act, Fall, started with sounds of police sirens, alluding to Brown’s criminal history. A video displayed his multiple run-ins with the law.
“It was hard; it was real hard,” Brown said about his shortcomings in the video. “No radio would play my music. Nobody would answer they phone. Nobody wanted to be associated with you. Nobody wanted to be around you. I remember being in my house months at a time, just trying to figure out what to do with my life. I’ve learned more about my craft. I focused on my craft. I learned how to just be a better human being and be myself.”
Brown performed fan favorites like “Residuals,” “Drunk Textin’” and “Deuces” in such a fast pace that it was almost hard to keep up. At that point, Brown had already performed about 20 songs within an hour, not spending longer than three minutes on each.
The third act of the show, Fantasy, was the most entertaining.
For “Wall to Wall,” Brown, attached to cables, flew across the venue for a moment that solidified how gargantuan his stardom has become. He brought a special fan to the stage for “Take You Down,” as Brown grinded all over her during the sultry song. It was crowd-pleaser that takes a page out of the sensual showcases of his male R&B predecessors (Usher, Bobby Brown).
Speaking of Usher, the R&B legend later joined Brown on stage as a surprise guest. He performed “Superstar” as fans roared at his presence.
“We came up looking at him. … He’s the greatest,” Brown told the crowd about Usher.
Bow Wow and GloRilla were other guests of the night. The surprise moments were a delightful refrain from Brown’s heavily stacked set list.
The final act of the night, Legacy, featured the singer diving deeper into his Michael Jackson homage.
For “Fine China,” he incorporated choreography reminiscent of “Smooth Criminal.” With “Call Me Everyday,” he honored another legacy R&B act: Jodeci (singing parts of the quartet’s classic “Come & Talk to Me”).
For roughly two-and-a-half hours, Brown performed nearly 60 songs that often felt overwhelming and simply too long. There wasn’t a moment where he allowed a song to breathe before instantly pivoting to the next track. But his fans loved every minute of it, even singing lyrics back to him as if they were the original performers of it.
He ended the night with a tribute to his three kids and songs “No Air” and “Forever.”
“Thank y’all for rocking with me,” Brown told the audience.
About the Author
DeAsia is a music and culture reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and diverse communities, as well as how emerging social trends are being expressed through the lens of the Atlanta aesthetic. DeAsia's work can be seen in Pitchfork, Essence, Teen Vogue, Elle and more.
