Sturgill Simpson Shows Outkast Love In Atlanta

Sturgill Simpson paid tribute to Atlanta’s Outkast during his concert Sunday at State Farm Arena. Performing as Johnny Blue Skies with his band The Dark Clouds, Simpson incorporated an instrumental jam on “So Fresh, So Clean” into the middle of the show after entering to a recording of another Outkast favorite, “SpottieOttieDopaliscious.”

The nods to the hometown hip-hop duo drew from two of their landmark albums. “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” appeared on 1998’s Aquemini, while “So Fresh, So Clean” followed on 2000’s Stankonia. The latter surfaced 19 songs into Sunday’s show out of “Mint Tea,” a cut from Simpson’s first Johnny Blue Skies album, 2024’s Passage Du Desir.

Watch audience-shot footage of the “So Fresh, So Clean” nod below:

Simpson and The Dark Clouds opened the concert with “Make America Fuk Again” from their latest album, Mutiny After Midnight. “Scooter Blues” followed before the band offered “Juanita,” making just its fourth appearance in the first 27 shows of the Mutiny For The Masses Tour, according to fan-run setlist resource SkySets.

The 28-song performance also included “Living The Dream,” “Life Of Sin” and “Turtles All The Way Down,” along with Sound & Fury selections such as “A Good Look,” “Last Man Standing” and “Fastest Horse In Town.” After “Mint Tea” and the Outkast nod, the band continued with “Brace For Impact (Live A Little)” and later paired “Long White Line” with Simpson’s take on When In Rome’s “The Promise.” “Make Art Not Friends” and “Welcome To Earth (Pollywog)” preceded the closing “Best Clockmaker On Mars.”

Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds bring the Mutiny For The Masses Tour to New Orleans on Tuesday, October 27. The run concludes Friday, October 30 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.

Watch Simpson and his band enter to Outkast’s “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” below:

Setlist (via SkySets)

Set: Make America Fuk Again, Scooter Blues, Juanita, Situation, Viridescent, Mercury In Retrograde, Excited Delirium, Don’t Let Go, If The Sun Never Rises Again, Just Let Go, A Good Look, All Around You, Living The Dream, Life Of Sin, Turtles All The Way Down, Last Man Standing, One For The Road, Stay On That, Mint Tea, So Fresh, So Clean [1], Brace For Impact (Live A Little), Right Kind Of Dream, All Said And Done, Long White Line, The Promise, Fastest Horse In Town, Make Art Not Friends, Welcome To Earth (Pollywog), Best Clockmaker On Mars

Footnotes:
[1] instrumental tease/jam – First Time Played