Nelly’s now 47. And he celebrated his Nov. 2 birthday with St. Louis at Ballpark Village Tuesday night where you could hear the sounds of Nelly and crew bouncing off the surrounding buildings for blocks. After the concert sold out in record time, BPV moved it outside so even more fans could join in the celebration. Despite the mid-40 degree temperature by the time the sun went down it was, ahem, kept hot out there all night long by the pure excitement and adrenaline of the crowd.
A DJ we did not know, nor can find any info on, except he’s with Derrty Ent kicked the night off at 7 p.m. with nearly two hours of spinning and mixing danceable combinations of jams, funk, rock, and rap favorites with a couple of oddballs tossed in to keep the growing crowd pumped.
Nelly and his former band St. Lunatics took the stage just after 9 p.m. to the pure excitement of the already fired-up crowd. They went straight into “E.I.,” followed by “Country Grammar (Hot Shit)” with Nelly showing off a giant belt with the words diamond certified (as by 2016 his album Country Grammar had sold 10 million copies). Nelly and City Spud were all smiles and in groove with one another during the birthday bash and played up to the appreciative, all-ages crowd.
Nelly shared his immense delight at being back on stage in St. Louis and gave a shout-out to all the Scorpios in the crowd as well as many other musings throughout the night. Guest appearances included Jermaine Dupri (on “Grillz”) and J-Kwon (on his “Hood Hop” and “Tipsy”). The night continued with other covers including “Hands Up” by Swizz Beatz and more originals ending with three big ones, “Hot in Herre,” “Dilemma,” and “Just a Dream.”
All photos we have from the night can be found here: https://bit.ly/Nelly21cz
Setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/nelly/2021/ballpark-village-st-louis-mo-7b8a86dc.html
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.