Over 700 people packed The Buckhead Theater in Atlanta Wednesday, June 24, to experience the feelings of love and togetherness given out at a Michael Franti concert. The night kicked off with a performance by Nattali Rize and Notis a heavily reggae influenced world music group lead by Nattali Rize. Her performance included songs which gave off many spiritual vibes as well as classic reggae music such as her single “Rebel Love.” Nattali ended her performance with a prayer for the crowd.
As soon as Michael Franti and Spearhead took the stage the crowd went crazy; the set kicked off with their hit song “Hey Hey Hey.” Michael then introduced his father, a resident of Atlanta who got cheers for both his military service and the fact that he was one of the scientists on the team that invented the pill. Soon after that, he invited a young girl to join him on stage to sing “The Sound of Sunshine,” as the song was being preformed giant yellow balloons were being thrown about the crowd.
Multiple times during the show Michael left the stage and sung among the crowd, one of these times preforming the song “I’m Alive (Life Sounds Like).” After that song Michael introduced two families that have children with advanced stages of life threatening illnesses, and gave shout-outs to the kids’ siblings by name. Michael has a foundation called Do It For The LOVE, which strives to bring joy through live music to individuals battling advanced stages of life threatening illnesses. At points throughout the show, Michael was joined by members of Nattali Rize and Notis. When performing his top song “Say Hey (I Love You),” which reached no. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, Michael invited many children onto the stage. At the end of the show, Michael gave a special shout out to his bassist Carl Young, whose family was attending the show. From the first words that left Michael’s mouth until the very last the crowd was completely lost in the music.
If you missed the show, you can see Michael throughout the country on the other 28 dates of his Once a Day Tour. Click here to buy tickets to those shows.
Full Photo Gallery of Nattali Rize and Notis
Full Photo Gallery of Michael Franti and Spearhead
