R&B singer-songwriter and Grammy Award winner Chris Brown has been called a number of things and he’s gone through everything from addiction and rehab to restraining orders and arrests. His outlet for it all? Music. Most recently he released his 9th studio album, Indigo and thus the INDIGOAT Tour was born. New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center was Brown’s sixth stop on the two-month-long tour. He brought along supporting acts Joyner Lucas, Yella Beezy, Tory Lanez, and Ty Dolla $ign.
The Noticeably Smaller Crowd
The INDIGOAT Tour marks the third time Chris has headlined the Smoothie King Center since 2015 and the fourth time he has performed in New Orleans since then. It’s apparent that his past hasn’t deterred his loyal fans, also known as Team Breezy, from showing up and showing out. They are going to support him to end through thick and thin but will the general public?
There was definitely a noticeable difference in the crowd size this year and the crowd during The Party Tour in 2017. For this tour stop, the entire 300-level of the arena was blacked-out by curtains. Is it a result of cancel culture? Is it because New Orleans is a weird market to sell in? Is it due to the show being on a weeknight? Or simply because Brown tours just about every other year and people aren’t willing to pay to see him more than once? You tell me what you think.
Possibly the Highlight of the Night: Intermission
A voice-over of comedian Kevin Hart announced the 15-minute intermission and then the real show began. It’s no secret New Orleans is known as a party city so there was no surprise that when the DJ played tracks like “Back That Thang Up,” “Thotiana,” and “Donk”, the crowd was out of their seats. Throughout the 15 minutes, cameramen went around showing the crowd as they backed it up, dropped, and got low on the concert floor.
Problematic But Definitely Talented
Despite his mishaps and mistakes, Brown definitely lives up to his reputation as a skilled live performer and this may have been one of his best shows yet. I was a bit upset to see Chris Brown went back to the “traditional” concert stage set-up whereas his 2017 Party Tour stage was in the middle of the arena floor almost like a boxing ring. I felt like he could connect more with the crowd and more people had the chance to have an up-close view with that setup.
For this tour, the first half of the show included more recent tracks like the title of track of his latest album, Indigo, along with “Heat” and “Temporary Lover.” There was a 15-minute intermission where they swapped out the creepy looking monster statues that had $ and + for pupils with two inflatables of futuristic-like women robots.
Brown took the crowd down memory lane as he sang snippets of tracks from his first studio album and his earlier hits like “Turn Up the Music,” “Shortie Like Mine,” “Kiss Kiss,” and “Deuces.”This portion of the show was nostalgic, to say the least and had the most crowd participation. But out of all the throwbacks, the crowd was the loudest for Brown's 2007 hit, “With You.” When he finished singing the first verse and chorus of the popular R&B ballad, the crowd began to carry on with the rest of the song for him. He looked out as everyone sang every word to the 12-year old track and broke into a gleaming grin.
As the night went on, his fans were on their feet dancing and singing along until the very end. Brown kept his energy level on high while he sang, danced, and flipped before ending the night off with his latest hit single, “No Guidance.”
As I said, there is no denying that Chris Brown is a world-class entertainer but will be turning to New Orleans for his next tour with those sales numbers? Only the future will tell. If you missed Chris Brown's stop in New Orleans or just want to re-live the night, you can watch clips of their performance on my Chris Brown Instagram highlight and view the photo slideshow below.
