Usher ended a whirlwind week in his hometown of Atlanta with what he described as his favorite show of his lauded “Past Present Future” tour. After playing a birthday concert in Miami last Monday, the now 46-year-old singer had a couple of days off before he finally was able to bring his tour to his backyard in ATL.
Usher was originally scheduled to begin the tour at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on August 14 with three sold-out concerts, but due to a neck injury, those shows were rescheduled to end the tour in December. But there were three more Atlanta dates already on the itinerary, so last Thursday served as his official homecoming, along with concerts on Friday and Sunday (Saturday night was already taken by an up-and-coming performer named Stevie Wonder; head here for full concert reviews of Usher’s shows in Washington, DC and Los Angeles.)
More from Variety
“Atlanta… Tonight I share with you my story,” he said as he took the stage Thursday night, with a song that defined the Atlanta home stand: “Coming Home.”
At floor level in the back of the arena was Usher’s special VIP lounge — complete with a bar, which the singer leaves the stage and walks through the crowd to, making himself a drink upon arrival — and seated there was a mostly Atlanta-bred collection of luminaries, including 21 Savage, Monica, Summer Walker 2 Chainz, and Muni Long.
After his finale of “Yeah!” at the end of the show, Usher repeated, “I brought the world to the A; I brought the world to the A.” Then Usher’s friends and collaborators Jermiane Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox joined the singer’s family and dancers onstage and presented him with a huge, belated birthday cake.
“You just celebrated your birthday, well, you gotta do it the right way,” Dupri said on the mic. “You can’t come to Atlanta and not celebrate your birthday. This where we live at. This our house! You gotta celebrate your birthday with everybody in this muthafucka.”
“So we celebrating tonight,” Usher responded. The cake was rolled onstage while the DJ played @ Chainz’s “Birthday Song.”
The party continued on the following night, with Dupri joining Usher onstage for “Welcome to Atlanta.” He then transitioned into his rhymes from Dru Hill’s “Sleeping in My Bed” remix — and as a bonus, Da Brat joined them both onstage, arriving from below the stage on a riser for her raps. They then went directly into Da Brat’s “What’Chu Like” and introduced another guest, Tyrese, who is featured on the record. The “Fast And Furious” franchise star had actually appeared on the stage, unannounced, at the beginning of the show during “My Way,” reprising his role as Usher’s antagonist in the song’s video, giving him a theatrical staredown. Outkast’s Big Boi and Sleepy Brown also joined Usher onstage at other points during the show.
On Saturday, Usher took a break from the stage to hit the campaign trail with Vice President Harris, attending her rally at the Lakewood Amphitheater.
There, he told the crowd: “Normally, I’m up here to entertain, but today it’s something far more significant for Atlanta and all of Georgia. It’s really great to be home — I’m here for my ‘Past Present and Future’ tour, but I took a quick break from that to come here and share a few words with you about the significance of this moment. I feel that this is a momentous opportunity for each and every one of us. It’s just 17 days away from a very important election, as we all know. And we have an opportunity to choose a new generation of leadership for the country. We are here to support the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris. I support the vice president because she fights for everyone’s rights — and for freedom.”
On Sunday, at the State Farm arena during his concert, Usher ran a PSA encouraging people to vote on election day — and at the end, the video featured Vice President Harris saying she approved the message.
“This is one of the most important elections in history,” Usher said onstage. “You’ve seen where we come from. You’ve seen where we were headed and now, we have the choice to make… I’m trying to put a Black woman in the White House. I’mma do my part, but I can’t do it alone.”
Usher’s surprise guests on Sunday were diverse and got enthusiastic responses from the audience. Veteran Atlanta rapper Pastor Troy came out to perform one of the city’s biggest anthems, “We Ready.” R&B groups Silk and Kut Klose were joined by their producer and mentor Keith Sweat, who lit into “Make It Last Forever” and “If You Really Want It.”
Finally, Memphis rapper GloRilla injected some street energy into the singer-heavy concert with her gloriously ratchet single “TGIF,” coming onstage as Usher’s kids danced to her music while Usher watched from the VIP section with Tyler Perry, Kandi Burruss and Lil Kim were in the section.
Usher joined her onstage toward the end of the song, saying jokingly, “I just realized one thing, my kids were on stage with Glo-Rillllla. Really?” he said, playing the concerned dad over her not-so-kid-friendly lyrics.
Finally, when it looked like his show was coming to an end, Usher said that he was going overtime, and an unexpected star joined him: Kirk Franklin, followed by a full choir, who then shook the arena with “Stomp” and “Rain Down on Me.”
“So many amazing, incredible moments that happened here tonight,” Usher told the crowd at the end of the show. “I just want to say thank you so much. I have absolutely enjoyed this show more than any show I’ve had the entire time I’ve been on this tour,” he said before closing out with “Yeah.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
