On stage Friday night At Chastain Park in Atlanta, Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr sang about home on the slow rocker “Azalea,” a song from the group's latest album. Be here“Maybe it's not there / Maybe this doesn't lead anywhere / Home will always be here.”
For Blackberry Smoke, home is Atlanta. Since forming in 2000, the Southern rock band has enjoyed huge success across the country and around the world as one of the premier blues country rock bands. But on stage in Chastain, it was about going back to where it all began—to founding member Brett Turner.
The beloved drummer and fun-loving soul of Blackberry Smoke died on March 3 after a courageous battle with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. He was 57. At the time, the band had just launched a national tour of concerts. Be herewhich included the final recordings and Turner's contributions.
“I think about him every day, every show, every setlist,” Starr says. Rolling Stone “Behind the scenes beforehand. “He was deeply involved in everything we did. Every aspect of it. Not just the songs and playing the music, but his drive in the early days is what kept the band going.”
In the hours leading up to the concert at Cadence Bank, Starr was sitting in the band's bus parked behind the venue. He was sitting in the kitchen area of the car, which was Turner's preferred place to travel.
“This is his seat,” Star smiled. “And I won’t let anyone else sit here because I don’t want any strangers sitting here.”
When asked about Blackberry Smoke's status, and how the band was moving forward without its anchor, Starr's eyes welled up. “He was my favorite drummer and my best friend,” he said.[Tonight]”It's not the end. Nobody wants that. It's a part of us forever.”
Starr wipes away tears and laughs when he thinks of Turner—his brother from more than a quarter century ago. “We spend more time laughing at the things he said now than we do crying,” Starr says. “His sense of humor was what set him apart. He was important to a lot of people, not just me.”
Throughout the homecoming ceremony honoring Turner, a large screen behind the BlackBerry Smoke displayed images of fast bikes and faster cars, along with collages of the vast American West and the greater southern Appalachia region — all things Turner loved.
From time to time, the screen also aired tributes from a host of music legends. Billy F. Gibbons, Warren Haynes, members of the Zac Brown Band, and Jimmie Johnson paid their respects to Turner and the band. “They did exactly what I wanted them to do,” Johnson said in his remarks. “They were dancing like crazy.”
For the closing ceremony, Blackberry Smoke returned to the stage to perform some of Turner’s favorite classic rock songs with some special guests. Butch Walker, a longtime friend of Turner’s and a native of Atlanta, took center stage on Van Halen’s “Dance the Night Away,” while Jesse James Dupri of Jackyl played AC/DC’s “Have a Drink on Me.”
“Butch was there at our first rehearsal. He saw it all from the beginning. Then Jesse produced our first record and took us on the road for the first month of our career in 2001,” Starr says, connecting the dots.
But the cherry on top of the two-hour tribute came from Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, who appeared in a raucous, rousing rendition of the group's classic song “Surrender.” It was a way of paying homage to one of Turner's first live performances, Cheap Trick at the Fox Theater in Atlanta in 1979.
With Turner's tribute now in the rearview mirror, Blackberry Smoke will be back on the road, playing their songs for the fans and also furthering the legacy, legend and tradition of Brett Turner.
“Look at the Allman Brothers Band,” Starr says. “When Duane died, they played his funeral. I was like, ‘How could they do that?’” Now I know that’s all they know. In a way, Brit was like Duane, where he was the one who said, “Go on stage and play.”
Song list:
“Holy Woman”
“A good one is coming”
hammer and nail
“Waiting for thunder”
“You hear Georgia”
“a beautiful little lie”
“Hello Dalila”
“let it burn”
“As if it was yesterday”
dig a hole
“Sleeping Dogs”
Azalea
“Handshake with the Holy Spirit”
“What do you know well?”
“Escape from everything”
“No blues”
“In the smoke”
“One Horse City”
“a little crazy”
“Dance All Night Long” (with Butch Walker)
“Have a Drink on Me” (feat. Jesse James Dupree)
“Surrender” (with Rick Nielsen)
“I don't have much left”
