WIND
The first track to André 3000’s New Blue Sun is “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” I’ve thought about that title a lot (and a lot has already been written). Playing the flute requires breath/wind. A flute is part of the woodwind family. Rapping requires breath control. So, it’s not that far-fetched to witness André 3000’s migration musically to this spot. He was always moving effortlessly through styles, fashion, and influences — and bringing fans along in the process. I also thought about how I came to see this specific concert on the night of February 15, 2024 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, IL.
When the New Blue Sun Tour was announced, I was eyeing one of the Detroit shows. I love that city and it’s the closer drive. Tickets went on sale the morning of January 24 at 10 a.m. January 24 is the same day that my wife, Brittany, went into the hospital for five days. Tickets sold out almost immediately and I missed a chance to score them for the Detroit show. After Brittany was released from the hospital and had recovered, I began checking for tickets daily, hoping more would be released. We got word that following week that a family friend had succumbed to a battle with pancreatic cancer. The funeral was in Texas and we would be making the journey — which was on the weekend of the Detroit shows. Knowing that Chicago dates followed the next week and the drive was doable (and one I’ve made for concerts before), I continued checking for the release of more tickets. That weekend, extra tickets became available for the Garfield Park Conservatory shows and I got lucky and scored a ticket. I made quick arrangements to get to Chicago — I was finally going to experience this special moment.
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On the way to Chicago, in Indiana, there are massive wind turbines that dot the landscape. I began to think about wind again — it was almost as if the wind blew me this way to see this show at this venue.
The conservatory made for the perfect companion venue for this sharing of music. That’s what it was — an opportunity to listen to friends make music — something they love. The plants in the conservatory were part of the experience. Their textures and colors adding to the story, highlighted — no, illuminated — by the stage lighting. The lights also seemed to create their own images of nature at different points during the performance, casting snake like figures onto the walls, sifting downwards; birds in flight overhead, traveling somewhere and nowhere; spiders dancing on the ceiling. Music that was organic, of this world and also otherworldly. André and the group’s last song, led by a flute that made a tone similar to a kazoo, burst forward in sound from the speakers, flame-like lighting ensconcing André’s silhouette, almost like a phoenix rising — three stacks moving to a new state of artistry and how the world continues to accept his gifts.
This was special — I too am changed — different than when I blew into this space.
