Concert review: Big Boi at The Orange Peel

In line with Big Boi’s unexpectedly short set, I’ll likewise be brief in my summation of the Oct. 28 celebration of The Orange Peel’s 20th anniversary.

The legendary Atlanta MC brought his, well, “A” game to the capacity crowd, zipping through his verses from Outkast’s unrivaled catalog with steady vocal assists from his longtime running mate, Sleepy Brown.

Each iconic beat — “Rosa Parks”! “Bombs Over Baghdad”! “Elevators”! “Ms. Jackson”! — was met with raucous energy from their loyal subjects, and the artists did their best to engage with all corners of the stage — or at least as well as two performers hovering on different sides of the mid-century age mark with three decades of experience to their names can engage.

Less enthusiastic responses for their collaborative 2021 album, The Big Sleepover, suggested more time needed to pass for fans to become accustomed to the newer material, and the ill-advised decision to bring out two young Atlanta artists for guest spots further took the crowd out of the moment.

Big Boi and Sleepy Brown then wisely returned to selections that welcomed audience participation — including “The Whole World,” which famously invites listeners to “sing alonnnnng.”

And then, suddenly, it was over. As the stunned crowd checked their time-pieces, in disbelief that merely an hour had passed, they weren’t quite ready to leave, but with the lights on and the OP Krewe starting to sweep the floors, staying likewise wasn’t an option.

The end result was more in line with a festival set — and a non-headlining one at that. But despite the brevity and the headaches of dealing with a sold-out Orange Peel, we still got to see Big Boi in one of the best venues out there.

(Photos by Tom Farr)