Music Midtown final lineup (Atlanta, Dunwoody: sale, college, restaurants)

[10 feet tall]

Not a bad line up for only the second year back. Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters are blast from the past back to high school/college for me, so that seems decent. But this isn't really a home run lineup. I like having the Atlanta-based hip hop acts though, that is a nice touch.

[Onthemove2014]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Nobody appreciates the diversity of seeing Joan Jett, T.I., Pearl Jam, Ludacris, Florence + The Machine all on the same ticket?

I'm going both days. I just love the diversity of the acts they got and am interested in seeing what kind of crowd shows up.

I've seen Joan Jett and she is awesome live. I haven't seen Pearl Jam since Lollapalooza 2, but they were also good live. I've never seen a hip hop show live, but I like T.I. and Ludacris and am interested in their sets.

The site is full of hipsters. No one is trying to hear those bands.

[Halo_in_reverse]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Nobody appreciates the diversity of seeing Joan Jett, T.I., Pearl Jam, Ludacris, Florence + The Machine all on the same ticket?

I'm going both days. I just love the diversity of the acts they got and am interested in seeing what kind of crowd shows up.

I've seen Joan Jett and she is awesome live. I haven't seen Pearl Jam since Lollapalooza 2, but they were also good live. I've never seen a hip hop show live, but I like T.I. and Ludacris and am interested in their sets.

I agree 100%. Can't wait!

[tonygeorgia]

crowd last night

[atltechdude]

Had a great time last night. Foo Fighters rocked it.

[tonygeorgia]

[Ant131531]

It was amazing and fun. I went today and had a blast.

[ATLTJL]

It was awesome. Major win for Atlanta, judging by the success, I'm sure it will be done again next year. Things I noticed about Music Midtown:

1) I don't know when festival planners finally learned, but everything was done right. Plent of port-o-potties, a huge variety of food choices from great local restaurants (I had Fox Bros.) and everything was priced reasonably, bottled water was only $3, there was plenty of free water too, there was plenty of space to walk around. It seems like the days of $15 carnival food and $7 bottles of water are long gone, and good riddance to them. They even had portable ATMs, clearly marked exits, and you were allowed to bring in outside water (so long as it was still sealed). I also saw one tent that was like a little drug store, where you could buy aspirin, Skittles, even toilet paper. Exit and re-entry was also allowed. Great job by the organizers on all this.

2) This was one of the whitest crowds I have ever seen in Atlanta. Even though T.I. and Ludacris were performing, I barely saw any black people. Even if there were no hip hop artists, I still would have expected that Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, etc. would have a certain number of non-white fans. The crowd was so white it was almost unsettling. I felt like I was in Wyoming or something. Maybe one of our black posters can explain this....do black people not like music festivals? Do they hate Pearl Jam so much they would not go see Ludacris just because they were there? I really can't figure out why everyone there was white. There were hardly any Hispanics or Asians there either. I would say that less than 2% of the crowd was not European descended Caucasian. And that's liberal, it was probably more like less than 1%.

3) Once again, driving was more efficient than taking MARTA. Yesterday I left a bit early and said what the heck, I'm going to try parking, knowing that I had enough time to drive to a MARTA station if I couldn't. I immediately found a place to park. Then after the show, I got right out. So I did the same thing tonight with the same results, straight in and straight out, no muss, no fuss. What was striking was last night I left at the same time as a friend who parked at Dunwoody and took MARTA. We left the show at the same time. By the time he texted me and told me he was at the Dunwoody MARTA station, I had already driven home to Gwinnett county, showered, and was going to bed. Apparently, MARTA was so jammed you had to wait for a couple of trains to come and go before you could actually get on one. Another friend told me that 10th street was absolutely horrible, but as long as you know where to park and how to get in and out of the park only using Piedmont or Monroe, there was no problem at all.

I can't wait to see who is on the line-up next year.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

It was awesome. Major win for Atlanta, judging by the success, I'm sure it will be done again next year. Things I noticed about Music Midtown:

1) I don't know when festival planners finally learned, but everything was done right. Plent of port-o-potties, a huge variety of food choices from great local restaurants (I had Fox Bros.) and everything was priced reasonably, bottled water was only $3, there was plenty of free water too, there was plenty of space to walk around. It seems like the days of $15 carnival food and $7 bottles of water are long gone, and good riddance to them. They even had portable ATMs, clearly marked exits, and you were allowed to bring in outside water (so long as it was still sealed). I also saw one tent that was like a little drug store, where you could buy aspirin, Skittles, even toilet paper. Exit and re-entry was also allowed. Great job by the organizers on all this.

2) This was one of the whitest crowds I have ever seen in Atlanta. Even though T.I. and Ludacris were performing, I barely saw any black people. Even if there were no hip hop artists, I still would have expected that Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, etc. would have a certain number of non-white fans. The crowd was so white it was almost unsettling. I felt like I was in Wyoming or something. Maybe one of our black posters can explain this....do black people not like music festivals? Do they hate Pearl Jam so much they would not go see Ludacris just because they were there? I really can't figure out why everyone there was white. There were hardly any Hispanics or Asians there either. I would say that less than 2% of the crowd was not European descended Caucasian. And that's liberal, it was probably more like less than 1%.

3) Once again, driving was more efficient than taking MARTA. Yesterday I left a bit early and said what the heck, I'm going to try parking, knowing that I had enough time to drive to a MARTA station if I couldn't. I immediately found a place to park. Then after the show, I got right out. So I did the same thing tonight with the same results, straight in and straight out, no muss, no fuss. What was striking was last night I left at the same time as a friend who parked at Dunwoody and took MARTA. We left the show at the same time. By the time he texted me and told me he was at the Dunwoody MARTA station, I had already driven home to Gwinnett county, showered, and was going to bed. Apparently, MARTA was so jammed you had to wait for a couple of trains to come and go before you could actually get on one. Another friend told me that 10th street was absolutely horrible, but as long as you know where to park and how to get in and out of the park only using Piedmont or Monroe, there was no problem at all.

I can't wait to see who is on the line-up next year.

-Reasons why few blacks didnt show up. They can see TI or Ludacris perform here anytime for half that amount. Ludacris has several events on Labor Day Weekend here if people really wanted to see them plus TI performs for free at clubs here all the time. I'm sure he has perform for free or as had a concert here in Atlanta probably at least 15 times this year. He just shows up and gets on the mic and perform. Now of they had their own Hip Hop stage with several acts like it used to be more blacks would have came out.

-They didnt want to pay that price just to see one act that they like. It's the same as if it was a hip hop concert and Pearl Jam was added to the list. If it was TI, Gucci Mane, Snoop Dog, DMX, 50 Cent and Pearl Jam it would still be a mostly "hip hop" crowd.

Parking….I would have parked at that big parking lot next to the Cheetah and walked to Piedmont Park. As for Marta, they cant really help that the trains were packed especially during big events. They might could have added more trains but generally you just have to know what station to get on before it gets packed. Im sure most of the people got on and off at the Midtown Station. So if you were going Southbound I would have got on at Arts Center before it got packed at the Midtown Station. If I was going Northbound I would have got on at the North Ave Station, etc. It was similar to being in DC during the inauguration. I got on the Metro at Greenbelt which is the first Northwest Station. By the time the train left the first station it was already at capacity so maybe the 5 stops after Greenbelt Station nobody could not get on until we got into DC and people started transferring to other stations

This was definitely good for the city. It's nice seeing all these huge concerts in September when it's "Cooler" and the threat of rain decreases.

[ATLTJL]

It's the same as if it was a hip hop concert and Pearl Jam was added to the list. If it was TI, Gucci Mane, Snoop Dog, DMX, 50 Cent and Pearl Jam it would still be a mostly "hip hop" crowd.

I suppose you're right. But even if you had a show where it was all TI, Gucci Mane, Snoop, etc., I would still expect more than a handful of white kids to show up. There were literally close to ZERO black people at Music Midtown. I guess $50 is a high price tag to see just one act you are interested in. Though, honestly, it's not like I'm a huge fan of any of the acts that were there. I just had a pretty decent interest in many of them and I wanted to be in a music festival, support the city, and be part of something big and fun. Maybe those are "white" ideals, whatever that means.

As for Marta, they cant really help that the trains were packed especially during big events.

This time, I'm not actually blaming MARTA. I didn't ride it myself, so I can't judge how well or poorly they did anything. I'm just pointing out that regardless of if it was anyone's fault or not, it was actually easier and more efficient to get in and out by car provided you knew what you were doing. I did talk to one guy who said he parked at Civic Center and he watched everybody try to pile into the northbound trains while he walked onto the virtually empty southbound train. So I guess like driving, riding MARTA was also easier and more efficient provided you knew what you were doing.