Nestled in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, Ameris Bank Amphitheatre played host to the fourth stop of the co-headlining Southern Hospitality Tour featuring The Black Crowes and Whiskey Myers on a moderately temperate Saturday night, with special guests Southall rounding out the bill. Originally opened in 2008, this 12,000-capacity open-air venue has become one of metro Atlanta’s go-to summer concert destinations for diehard music fans willing to brave Georgia’s famously relentless afternoon pop-up thunderstorms in exchange for a night packed with familiar hits and road-tested rock-and-roll energy. Saturday night in the South was no exception, as the show start was delayed twenty minutes due to lightning reported in the area.
Southall brought a relentless, blue-collar energy to the stage starting at 6:50 p.m. with the track “Burning Bridges” off their latest album, Kinfolk (released May 1), turning their set into a loud and unapologetic celebration of Southern rock and Red Dirt country. Frontman Read Southall commanded the early performance slot with a weathered vocal style that carried equal parts grit and sincerity, while the band behind him delivered thick guitar riffs and driving rhythms that constantly pushed the momentum forward throughout their quick six-song set.
Embracing the rougher side of their sound, Southall blended outlaw country storytelling with thunderous rock instrumentation that landed with far more force live than on a record. Even while sharing tour billing with larger acts, the Oklahoma group carried themselves with the confidence of seasoned headliners, stretching instrumental passages, feeding off crowd reactions, and leaning into the kind of hard-touring mentality that has steadily expanded their fanbase. By the closing song of “DLTGYD,” the audience had fully bought into the band’s rugged approach, responding to every pounding beat and scorching guitar lead with the kind of enthusiasm reserved for acts that earn their reputation one performance at a time.
Southall
Read Southall – Lead vocals
John Tyler “J.T.” Perry – Lead guitar, backing vocals
Reid Barber – Drums
Jeremee Knipp – Bass
Braxton Curliss – Keyboards
Ryan Wellman – Rhythm guitar
Setlist:
1.) Burning Bridges
2.) Stickin’ n Movin’
3.) High-Speed Feed
4.) Freight Train
5.) Scared Money
6.) DLTGYD (aka Don’t Let Them Get You Down)
Whiskey Myers delivered a fierce and unapologetically loud performance that reinforced why the band has become such a dominant force in the Southern rock world. The Texas group attacked the stage starting at 7:40 p.m. with nonstop energy, combining spirited country storytelling with towering guitar work and roaring rhythms that shook through the venue from the opening song of “Midnight Woman” onward. Cody Cannon’s raspy vocals gave the set a rugged authenticity, while the rest of the band locked into deep grooves that made every track feel bigger and more aggressive in an amphitheatre setting. Songs from their latest release Whomp Whack Thunder (2025) carried a heavier edge onstage, fitting naturally alongside longtime staples like “Stone” that had the crowd shouting every lyric back toward the stage.
Rather than chasing polished theatrics, Whiskey Myers relied on raw musicianship and relentless pacing to drive their performance. Their live chemistry created a sense of controlled chaos, with extended instrumental breakdowns and scorching guitar solos keeping the audience engaged between every chorus. Even in a large amphitheatre environment, the band maintained the feel of a gritty roadhouse act that simply happened to be playing to thousands of people at once. The Atlanta crowd fed directly into that intensity throughout their set, responding just as strongly to the heavier rock moments as they did to the emotionally charged ballads. By the time their co-headling performance reached its closing stretch, Whiskey Myers had transformed the venue into a sweat-soaked Southern rock showcase fueled entirely by volume, momentum, and confidence.
Whiskey Myers
Cody Cannon – Lead vocals, guitar, harmonica
John Jeffers – Guitar, slide guitar, lap steel, vocals
Cody Tate – Guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals
Jeff Hogg – Drums
Tony Kent – Keyboards, percussion
Jamey Gleaves – Bass
As the clock struck 9:30 p.m., the house lights went dark, triggering a massive response from the capacity crowd as they welcomed back their hometown band. Without fail, the twice Grammy-nominated Black Crowes continue to perform with the same rebellious Southern spirit that first pushed them out of the Atlanta rock scene decades ago, and Saturday night was no exception.
Drawing heavily from the blues-driven swagger that defined their rise in Georgia during the late 1980s, the band balanced tight musicianship with the loose unpredictability that has always separated them from cleaner, more polished rock acts. Chris Robinson controlled the crowd with his animated stage presence and unmistakable vocal style, while Rich Robinson supplied thick, rolling guitar work that kept the entire performance grounded in classic Southern blues rock. Their set, which launched with “Profane Prophecy” from their latest release, A Pound of Feathers (March 2026), moved comfortably between newer material and longtime staples, allowing the band to celebrate its history without feeling trapped by it.
What stood out most was the way the group leaned into spontaneity instead of attempting to recreate studio recordings note for note. Songs regularly stretched beyond their original structures through extended guitar sections, improvisational detours, and raw instrumental exchanges that gave the performance a constantly shifting energy. Even inside larger venues, The Black Crowes maintained the atmosphere of a hard-touring club band rooted in Atlanta’s legacy live music culture. The audience responded immediately to that authenticity, erupting during familiar favorites like “Jealous Again” and “Hard to Handle” while remaining fully engaged through the band’s heavier, jam-oriented moments. Every transition felt natural rather than choreographed, reinforcing the idea that the band still trusts instinct more than precision.
However, the highlight of the evening was the unexpected invitation for Kevn Kinney, of locally based Drivin N Cryin fame, to join the band onstage. Following an emotional delivery of the 1991 single “She Talks to Angels,” Chris Robinson invited Kinney to grab a guitar, and The Black Crowes launched into a punchy Drivin N Cryin cover of “Acceleration.” After Kinney exited the stage, the band then powered through back-to-back radio hits in “Twice as Hard” and “Remedy” to close out their main set.
By the end of the night, following a single-song encore with AC/DC’s “Riff Raff,” the band’s performance had transformed into a loud and unapologetic tribute to Southern rock’s blues foundations. The Black Crowes built the show around powerful vocals, roaring amplifiers, and the brotherly musical chemistry that only develops through decades of shared history. Their Georgia roots remained impossible to ignore throughout the set, not only in the sound itself but also in the attitude behind it — confident, rough around the edges, and completely uninterested in smoothing out the flaws that make rock music feel alive.
The Southern Hospitality Tour remains active in the United States through Saturday, June 20, before The Black Crowes take a short break to tour overseas. The second U.S. leg will then resume on Friday, July 17, in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Ruoff Music Center.
P.S. Happy birthday to Rich Robinson, who turned 56 today (May 24).
The Black Crowes
Chris Robinson – Lead vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar, percussion
Rich Robinson – Guitar, backing vocals
Current touring musicians
Erik Deutsch – Keyboards
Nico Bereciartua – Guitars
Cully Symington – Drums
Mark “Muddy” Dutton – Bass, backing vocals
Mackenzie Adams – Backing vocals
Lesley Grant – Backing vocals
Setlist:
1.) Profane Prophecy
2.) Sting Me
3.) Good Morning Captain
4.) Jealous Again
5.) Feathers
6.) My Morning Song
7.) Wiser Time
8.) Hard to Handle (Otis Redding cover)
9.) Seeing Things
10.) Thorn’s Progress
11.) Thorn in My Pride
12.) She Talks to Angels
13.) Acceleration (Drivin’ N Cryin’ cover with Kevn Kinney)
14.) Twice as Hard
15.) Remedy
Encore
16.) Riff Raff (AC/DC cover)
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.