Wow. We went to the Mary J. Blige concert in Virginia Beach last night and it was one of the top 3 performances I’ve ever seen. I own every MJB record, every version of every song. To see her live has been on my Mondo Beyond list for a while and it was worth the wait. I was 19 the year her first album dropped (What’s the 411? 1992) and it is to this day one of the top 5 albums of my lifetime. Me and my 3 roommates listened to this CD for literally the entire first semester of our 2nd year at UVA. Picture us: a black, a white, a philipino and a 1/2 mexican chick all coming of age to one of the most influencial records in hip-hop/soul history with the CD on permanent “repeat” mode. Yeah, it was that good.
It was quite simply an experience. She sang with all of her heart, you could tell she loves to perform and that her work is so obviously the story of her life (heartbreaking, inspiring, soul mending). The closest performance I’ve seen in recent years is Erykah Badu at the Sugarwater Festival in Charlotte last summer. It was the kind of night you don’t want to end (and its 2am so that is saying something).
So tell us…what is the best/most memorable concert/performance you’ve ever seen? and what made it so special?
