Ariana Grande delivers powerhouse vocals at first Atlanta show in 7 years

Atlanta surely missed Ariana Grande.

On Monday night, thousands of fans — from teens to grandmas and moms breastfeeding their babies — arrived at State Farm Arena to see a pop star return to form. For the last two years, Ariana Grande has prioritized an acting career, most notably a starring role in “Wicked” that yielded Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. And, when she wasn’t making headlines for acting, her highly publicized love life and her highly scrutinized weight fueled online discourse.

But on Monday, none of that mattered. Her piercing vocals and unyielding connection with her loyal fanbase remained paramount. After a seven-year hiatus from the road, her supporters showed just how deeply she was missed.

Even before Grande stepped on stage, the crowd roared incessantly. The first time was for Grande’s mom Joan (no stranger to being featured on her daughter’s Instagram) who received her own pop star welcome as she walked across State Farm Arena 30 minutes before the show. Fifteen minutes later, the crowd screamed again. This time, it was at the presence of a 15-minute timer at center stage, signaling a countdown to Grande’s appearance.

Ariana Grande, shown here during the Oakland, Calif., stop of her Eternal Sunshine Tour in June, brought all of her hits and a piercing vocal performance to her Atlanta show on Monday. (Katia Temkin)

At 8:15 p.m., Grande, wearing a black lace dress and backed by a cadre of dancers, stepped on stage looking every bit of dazzling. And the fans couldn’t contain their excitement. She opened the show with “Yes, And?,” the empowering dance hit from her 2024 “Eternal Sunshine” album, the tour’s namesake. It only took her a few minutes into the song to flaunt her impressive four-octave range.

The 33-year-old swiftly shifted to a more sultry vibe with “Positions” and “The Boy is Mine.” For the latter, she wore her signature bunny mask (matching many in the audience who donned the same, a nod to the cover art of her 2016 album “Dangerous Woman”) and strutted across the stage with a whip for a racy performance with one of her dancers.

Later in the show, a quieter moment arrived. Wearing a pink gown, Grande stood in the middle of the stage and calmly asked screaming fans to stop doing so for just a few moments. With a digital looping machine in front of her, Grande manually layered her vocals for the introduction of “Eternal Sunshine.” The result? A vocal master class that sounded like a choir full of Ariana Grandes vocalizing for an earnestly silent crowd. Yes, Grande may have traded the pop regalia for Hollywood glamour but that didn’t stop her yearning fans from following her every word, even when told to shush.

Grande manually layers her vocals for the introduction of “Eternal Sunshine.” (Katia Temkin)

Later in the show, the audience returned to screaming as Grande rolled through her monster hits: “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings,” “Just Like Magic.” The momentum slightly diminished when she performed “Eternal Sunshine” deep cuts including “Imperfect For You” and “Warm.” But the least interesting moments gave her time to serenade different sections of the arena. She recalibrated the energy with an electrifying showing of her crowd-pleaser “Dangerous Woman.” Grande’s dynamic vocals reached a rock powerhouse level, with vocal acrobatics that would make Janis Joplin proud.

“I have the most incredible fans in the world. … I’m not taking any of this for granted,” she told the Atlanta audience.

With visuals celebrating each era of her triumphant career, Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tour was filled with gratitude for a journey that has encapsulated as much tragedy (from a 2017 Manchester bombing that killed 22 fans at one of her concerts to the 2018 death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller) as it has happiness (the multiple chart-topping hits, the “Wicked” success).

Grande performed roughly 20 songs performed in under two hours. (Katia Temkin)

In under two hours, Grande proved she was thankful for it all, especially the fans who had been with her throughout the highs and lows. The show’s finale included “Hate That I Made You Love Me” (her most recent chart-topper from her forthcoming album “Petal”) and “We Can’t Be Friends.” As “Supernatural” played in the background, Grande, anchored by wires, levitated from the stage into a floating halo, marking the concert’s end.