RACHELLE FERRELL/RUSS BARNES in Atlanta:
The Perfect Night
By Daniel Bass
(NOTE: The following was first posted on the Rachelle Ferrell board. For those who
don’t know, Russ is Rachelle’s brother)
Well, it’s just common knowledge that I now have a hard time getting to concerts in one piece. [see LEDISI in Atlanta]
I thought I had planned the sucker so that I would be there an hour early, pick up backstage passes, and get a gooood
seat right up front. But after turning around to get the camera, stopping at a pay phone to call my dad, and the god-awful
traffic, we were already running late. On top of that, Nikki was at her cousin’s house out in the boondocks and it took a
million years to get there and pick her up. So we were most definitely not on the planned schedule!
The plan had been to pick my dad up from work, leave his car there, and he would give directions because he was the only
one who knew where the venue was. Unfortunately, ‘cuz we had to go so far out of the way for Nikki, we didn’t have time
to pick my dad up. That meant that we really didn’t know quite where we were going!
After a few twists and turns (and mama stopping to ask for directions), we finally made our way to the general area. Mama
dropped us off in the neighborhood at about 7:25. Keep in mind the concert is at 7:30 (the first of three)! Mama said,
“It’s either down that road or that road.” And there we were, left with five minutes, trying to find the venue. Those who
know me can probably guess at my disposition! I wanted to ask the first oddball I saw where the Variety was but Nikki made
us go into a store and ask a sane person.
Soon as we found out, I took off my sandals, snatched Nikki’s hand, and took off running like a madman. Please believe...
At a certain point though, I realized I was lucky not to have glass shards all up in my toes, so I put my shoes back on
and we briskly walked to the venue.
I was looking around and who did I see walking down around to the back of the venue but Rachelle herself! I asked Nikki,
“Is that Rachelle?” Nikki said, “That ain’t Rachelle!” Ahem. This is where I got stupid. I hollered across traffic
“RACHELLE!”, but nobody turned around (there was a lil posse). But I looked and one of the posse members bore a vague
resemblance to the “Incredible Hulk” (Rachelle’s brother, Russ)... But then the woman turned around all belatedly, and it
WAS Rachelle! She kinda peered across the street and I could hear her say, “That’s D-Nice!”
She waved for us to cross the street and we did. I got my big ol’ hug and she asked how I was and I said “LATE!” We said
'hey’ to Russ and then Rachelle asked us if we were coming back after the show. I asked if there were passes waiting
(last year there was a bit of a mix-up) and she said just to come on back.
So we parted ways and entered the venue and saw that almost every freaking seat was taking on the lower level. Certainly
there were no two seats together. So Nikki and I went to the balcony where it was slightly warm, but pretty good
visibility.
Not long after, they announced Rachelle and the band started playing a vamp of “Satisfied”. Then Rachelle strode out
lookin’ fly and sounding marvelous. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a cream halter-top and had pulled her hair
into two afro puffs. If you’ve heard her sing “Satisfied”, I live for the note after the line, “Everything is everything
anyway.....” Makes me happy every time! And she was dancing her behind off! Rachelle tore down y’all!
She then did a fonky version of “Sista” while fallin’ up in her pimp walk all across the stage.
Y’all know how I make up phrases and nicknames and such? By the end of this song a new one hit me as I muttered to myself,
“She tore the booty off’a that one!” And she surely did. It was just the jimmy jam. She then played “I Forgive You” and
“I Gotta Go”, both of which seem to be big crowd pleasers.
Then the “Incredible Hulk”, Russ himself, came out, and I promise, the women had a fit. You’da thought he was Prince or
somethin’! Well, they sang a lovely version of “Reflections of My Heart” together (one of my favorites) with Rachelle
admonishing, “Y’all quiet down, this is a hard song to do!”. Russ said some lovely words about how truly remarkable it is
to find someone with the openness of spirit that Rachelle possesses and gives freely, and it wudd’n nothin’ but the truth!
Then, Mr. Russ decided to step it up a notch and he went and pulled out a guitar! Rachelle sat down and let him take over
for a minute. And Lord, was his minute good! Russ did three songs from his upcoming CD and the best part about em...?
They were GOOD! I was like, “Dag! I want the CD now!” The first one was called “When the Morning Comes” and it was a
celebration of the value of life. The second was “All I Can Do Is Try” and the title pretty much describes its content.
The last was “Can’t Say I’d Blame You”, which was a beautiful ode to his mother’s achievements despite the struggles.
Rachelle sang back-up, and they were all just plain good.
Then Rachelle came back and you could almost hear the collective sigh of all the women folk as Russ adjourned for a while!
Rachelle had been getting hollered requests all night, and honored a couple with a cappella snatches including “Welcome
to My Love”, “Blackbird”, and “I Can Explain” (for which Nikki was hoping for a full version). But she finally asked, “Do
y’all wanna hear brand new stuff that you’ve never heard before or something you can go play off the album?” And some
still wanted old. So she compromised and said she’d play a quick new one and then an oldie.
Now she pulled out HER guitar y’all! And Lord hah mercy, she played the sucker. She said she hadn’t been playing it more
than 6 or 7 months, but you coulda fooled me! She had a real bluesy, down home style. She played a new song that I think
was called “Gonna Reach My Goal” and she just murderlized it! But who could expect anything less?
She had joked earlier that she wanted to call their new label “I’ll Do It My Damn Self Records” but that Russ opted for
Evolutionary Records. I think it needs an R in front of it, ‘cuz the power of the music and the artistry and the sheer
talent is just revolutionary. But I guess it has two Rs in front of it, Rachelle and Russ to steer it right where it
needs to go (Smile).
Then Russ came back out and something quite humorous happened. A lady near us began to squawk! She was very much a fan of
Russ I believe. We labeled her the DoDo Bird for the evening!
Rachelle and Russ then sang “Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This” to the great pleasure of the crowd. And let me tell you,
talk about tearin’ the booty off? Russ absolutely sang his off! He sang notes you woulda swore were Rachelle! And Rachelle
‘bout caught the spirit towards the end and got up and started marchin’ around (like she’s apt to do), and they were just
a sight to see. Then they exited stage right and I snatched Nikki up again. We had someplace to be!
We had to march down the stairs and all the way down the stage against the flow of traffic (and yes, I said plenty of
“excuse me’s”!). When we got there one of the guys who had been outside before the show with Rachelle kind of ushered us
in, which was very nice of him.
Rachelle had her head stuck out the side door talking to people exiting the show, and she had a kind word for everyone.
She finally pulled her head back in and then we attacked her! As I went to hug her, she said “I’m wet” as a warning and I
said “I don’t care! I am too!" I gave her another super hug and, before I could start spoutin’ compliments, she did! She
told me how proud she was of me and I told her likewise. And then she hugged Nikki.
Then we took pictures and I took a picture for a couple who wanted one. I told Rachelle it was so good we wished we could
watch it all over again, to which she immediately asked a guy if he could get us tickets to the next show, but since it
was sold out, he said the 12:30 would be easier. I told them thanks, but that I couldn’t be callin’ my mama that late to
come get us.
Then we talked to Russ, whom we had left out of the pictures completely by mistake! Our bad, Russ. Next time homie. It was
all Nikki’s fault (Smile).
And then Rachelle and Russ resumed the head out the door tactic and I talked to their sister, Jackie, for a minute who had
her husband and two children there. And of course, she was as nice as could be.
Then everybody started to kind of adjourn to the back room and Nikki was like, “We can’t go back there! That’s where
they’re going!” And I said, “Yes we can!” And as we stood there arguing like dorks, I turned around and there was Russ
telling us to come on. I gave Nikki a “See!?” look, and we proceeded.
It was a slightly dingy room with some lovely Christmas lights going on (read: not really so lovely), but I thought, “Man,
if I was a performer, this would be fine by me.” All the family sat around and talked, and we chilled a while. But we had
called my parents earlier and they were on their way, so after a while I told everyone our carriage was gonna turn into a
pumpkin and we had to go.
Rachelle got up and somehow we ended up doing a little dance (I think she coerced us into it somehow), and after a little
roboting, we had to go. I snapped one more quick picture of the backstage area and Russ walked us out, which was quite
nice of him.
We had an absolutely wonderful time. The night couldn’t have gone any better. From the music, to the company, to the DoDo
Bird... It was perfect. So big old humongous, gigantic, enormous thanks to both Rachelle and Russ and everyone else
involved for making it so splendid.
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