The Atlanta-bred artist performed live compositions influenced by his 2023 album, New Blue Sun.
Atlanta-bred rapper, songwriter, singer, and actor Andre 3000 graced the stage of The Greek Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct 2. Andre surprised longtime fans nearly one year ago with the release of his debut solo album, New Blue Sun. Andre had previously experienced worldwide acclaim for hip-hop songs including “Ms. Jackson”, “Hey Ya!”, and “I Like The Way You Move”. As such, it came as a shock when he released his highly experimental solo album, deeply influenced by his study of the flute.
Throughout this tour featuring more than 120 shows, Andre and his self-proclaimed “brothers and sisters” in music did not merely replay New Blue Sun note-by-note; they composed entirely new music live. This type of improvisation was based upon the premise of being present – “We make this all right here. We just start, and we keep going. I don’t even know notes like that…it’s just about the energy [the audience] brings to the building,” Andre explained to the audience.
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Presence was a theme throughout the night. Singer, songwriter and violinist Sudan Archives opened the night with an instrument-focused, meditative song. In the transition between Sudan Archives and Andre, the audience was instructed to respect a rule: no phones.
When Andre came onstage, an eruption of cheering could be heard around Griffith Park. However, there was an unusual absence of videography; almost no one took out their phones to capture his entrance, which is unconventional in today’s time. Throughout the concert, people intermittently snagged a video or two, before respectfully putting their phone away.
It made a difference. Many audience members closed their eyes, seemingly entering a meditative state while they listened to the band. Acknowledging that everything is music, Andre joked that his drummer was also playing the “rainstick, wind, grass, rocks, bag of peas…anything that makes noise.”
Mid-show, he brought thirteen additional players, including Native American musicians performing a drum circle. The entire band onstage was composed of people from different areas of the world, which was emblematic of Andre’s love for learning about different places, cultures, and languages. He began speaking in what sounded like tongues, then let the audience in on a joke: “I know y’all think what I just said was so deep. I was just making [stuff] up. That had, like, Swahili, Japanese, Thai, even some Atlanta in there.”
It was also unconventional that he held no spotlight, physically or musically. The entire stage was evenly lit to showcase all the performers, and, in the spirit of live composition, there was space for each artist to shine.
“These people onstage…I didn’t discover them, they discovered me. They each jammed with me, they let me play with them, so thank you,” he said while looking at the band. “[One of them] found me in an Erewhon…he knew I was playing the flute in Venice, he saw me in Erewhon, and he asked me to come jam,” Andre recalled.
It is a crisp and deeply refreshing glass of water to find a world-renowned artist so humble and eager to learn more about the world through other people. At the end of the night, he subtly mentioned that more music is on the way. Whether it’s ATLiens-esc hip-hop or of a similar ilk as his New Blue Sun opener, “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time”, there’s no telling. But, we will press play nonetheless.
