BUJU'S Unchained Spirit

-: For Buju Concert Pictures Click Here

As we pulled into the Atrium entrance my only response was, "Yeow this parking lot is Raaaaammmmmmm!" As we scavenged for an empty parking spot I surveyed as more and more cars kept pulling in behind us. My excitement increased in anticipation for a great night, because it was 1/4 to 2 and things were looking really positive from a turnout standpoint. "Let's go around the back of Atrium to see if we can find a spot!" [Yeah right!] "Yeow this place is rammmmmmm!" So we made our way back to the front of the parking lot, parked illegally and made the trek up to the Atrium. [My workout for the month!]

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During the trek I had to rescue the ladies from the teenie-boppers by Aquarium as they just exited a high school party. "Dang shawty, You lookin good girl!" "Ey playa lemmi get one o' dem shawties!" Bonecrusher blasting, Car's vibrating, I could only reflect and wondered if I was that corny and disrespectful to ladies as a young lad. ... Back to the Buju Flex We get everything in order to go into the club, Wrigley's .. check, money .. check, tickets ... wait, "Where's my ticket?" "You don't have it?" ... "oh Here it is!" If we never found that ticket somebody would have been sleeping in the car during the show, cause $35 - $50 kinda steep at that time of night! Plus our Atlantareggae.com celebrity pass don't kick in yet! Hail up who fi hail up, small up who fi small and security do dem feel up and we good to go!  2:00 AM ... Into the club, "Wait, nuh Buju dat pon stage!" For Atlanta that one was hard to believe, I had to rub my eyes couple times to make sure I wasn't losing it. [Have to big up Don Promotion for that 1] "Him just come on man! 1st tune!", as a local shotta informs us. So we hustle down to the front to get a good spot, which took a while because the place was packed. It was good to see more than just the regular people out for the first in a long time. People were smiling, a lot of couples and a lot of more mature people. Down in front we tried to get some good shots of Buju but it wasn't working from down in the crow, so we passed the camera to Coreymus who was snapping away on the stage. [Note to self, get press passes!]

At this time Buju was in full swing, mixing the old with the new, having the crowd mellow out and take in the new not so 
familiar song, then erupt when the older songs come flood in. To me that was a good strategy for Buju and well choreographed @ that, because it gave people the ability to appreciate his full arsenal of tunes. The whole club was in euphoria, men were hugging up their ladies as they sang out Buju's tunes, rudebwoys were flashin up their lightas and many were in awe of Buju's presence as he worked the stage. as Buju himself recounted, "The last time I was here in Georgia I was rolling around, but this time I am trodding!" His wheel chair performance definitely took away from the spectacle, because this time he was running, skipping, pon di rivering, chanting and taking full command of the huge stage. 

Through his performance Buju gave some great speeches and intros to his new and old songs and one of the biggest forwards came when he introduced ... "Can I reason with you Atlanta for a little while? ... U see some people love America and will do anything to be in foreign, but all I have to seh is don't lose yourself ... cause" ... "The rich man's wealth is in the city ...", wheeeelllll!!!!! Love Sponge, One to One, Hush Baby Hush, Champion, Till I'm Laid to Rest, Murderer, Untold Stories, Tra La La, Friends for Life, Mr. Nine ... so many tunes I don't even remember them all" [Actually it's 2 days after and it nuh suh fresh in my mind again :)]

Then he decided to "Go Back, Go Way Back", and did a medley of his old hits, Love Mi Browning, Love Black Woman, Bogle, Dickie and after every tune he, his back up signers and the crowd would chant "Go Back, Go Way Back" ... "Yuh Si When I Decide Fi Go Back, Me don' play yuh nuh!" as he smiles and wipes the sweat from his forehead to talk to his Atlanta Choir. This event should have been named, Buju Along with the Atlanta Harmony Choir, because you would have sworn everybody listened to all Buju albums to prepare for the concert. An Hour and a half of one of the best Atlanta performances I have seen and still he continues to give the crowd their money's worth.Around 1/4 to 4 Buju mellowed the vibe after a chant for more Buju and eventually bid farewell to Atlanta. Atlanta was so not use to events finish so early because artists most times come on stage @ 4. So, many stuck around and took in the vibe of underground sound, while others congregated outside to talk about the performance of Buju, the man of the hour.  We packed our 50 flyers we were bombarded with upon exiting Atrium [Something must be done about that!], and we headed home and recounted tune for tune, beat for beat, how Buju had us in a frenzy.

Kudos to Don Promotion, Happy Bunch and all who were a part of this production. Also have to give props to that band, Wow! That's all I can say about them. They gave the event that added lift. Good To Go!

Till next Flex, walk good!

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-: More Buju Pictures Here :-

Milo ... milo@atlantareggae.com ...