André 3000 celebrated his 49th birthday on Monday by closing out Atlanta Jazz Festival with his new experimental flute project.

The free Memorial Day performance drew a huge crowd, and—as was the case with his recent album debuting the instrumental jazz project, New Blue Sun—reactions were mixed. Many ATLiens jumped on the opportunity to witness a Three Stacks performance in OutKast‘s hometown without necessarily knowing what to expect from the recently reformed musician.

“Anytime you get a free André 3000 concert, you really just have to take advantage of that,” one attendee told local outlet Atlanta News First. Watch the full news segment below.

André 3000 Headlines Final Night of Atlanta Jazz Festival – Atlanta News First Report 

At the start of the set, the former rapper told the throngs of spectators, “Everything we’re doing — the same way that New Blue Sun was made with me and my brothers. We’re completely making everything up as we go along. We never know what the night is gonna sound like.”

The improvised, instrumental set was the highlight of the weekend and provided a fitting conclusion to the three-day jazz festival, though some misguided fans couldn’t help but feel disappointed, with one person writing on X, “Andre: people dont want to hear someone my age rap anymore Me: judging by the crowd’s energy, they definitely dont wanna hear that damn flute.”

Another expressed dissatisfaction with venue, tweeting, “I feel like this should be done somewhere with better acoustics and not outside,” while someone else blamed the lack of enthusiasm on the audience’s expectations, writing, “The crowd so confused they don’t know how to take them vibes. They used to toxic music in Atlanta.”

Watch André 3000 performing at Atlanta Jazz Festival below. He is set to co-headline Robert Glasper’s Blue Note Jazz Fest: Black Radio Experience later this summer.

André 3000 At Atlanta Jazz Festival 2024

[Video: MVP TV NETWORK]

 

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