Music Midtown
Music Midtown is a large music festival held in Atlanta, Georgia, annually from 1994 to 2005, after which it returned in 2011 following a six-year hiatus. The festival ran consecutively from 2011-2019 with a cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival returned briefly in 2021, before a . In May 2023, it was announced that . The festival runs for one weekend each year, typically in September. The event drew in excess of 300,000 attendees per year during its peak years.
The festival began as a two-day event with three stages, and later grew to a three-day event with six main stages. Each of these stages were typically sponsored by a local Atlanta radio station and were used to present dozens of bands playing a wide variety of musical genres. Due to a decline in attendance and rising expenses after the 2005 festival, promoters placed the festival on hiatus in 2006.
In 2011, the festival returned as a one-day event, and expanded to a two-day format the following year. On August 1, 2022 the festival was cancelled due to Georgia gun laws preventing organizers from banning firearms at the event, which was held in a public park. , it was announced the event would now take place over 3-days and occurred from September 15–17, 2023.
History
Origins
The festival was conceived by Atlanta-based music promoters Alex Cooley, Peter Conlon and Alex Hoffman who sought to create an event similar to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The intent was to present a wide variety of music that both men had come to enjoy during their careers in the music industry.In 1994, the festival launched on a parcel of undeveloped land at Peachtree St. and Tenth St. in the heart of Midtown's business district. After a few years at this site, the festival was forced to move to make way for the construction of the new Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The new festival site chosen was in downtown just north of Centennial Olympic Park and consisted mainly of closed-off streets and surface parking lots which made for a hot and somewhat unpleasant experience for daytime concert-goers. This site is now home to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola museum. This led to a brief stay of two years after which the festival moved to the 42 acre location adjacent to the Atlanta Civic Center and now closed SciTrek. After finding this new home, the festival grew dramatically and attracted around 300,000 attendees during its peak years.
Changes, 2005, and decline
In 2000, the festival featured its largest show to date. They increased their stage amount to six and featured over 130 bands.Although independent promoters when the festival was created, Cooley and Conlon sold their company, Concert/Southern Promotions, to Clear Channel Communications' subsidiary SFX Entertainment in 1998. In November 2004, Alex Cooley was released by Clear Channel Entertainment in part due to his unsuccessful assimilation into the corporate culture. His age and health problems prevented him from working full-time which also played a role.
Traditionally on the first weekend in May, the 2005 festival was moved to June 10–12. This was supposedly done for better weather, although this ended up being counterproductive, as it put the festival into even more heat and humidity and at a greater risk for thunderstorms with dangerous lightning. Most of the 2005 festival was rained on by remnants of Tropical Storm Arlene, repeating many of the May rains it was rescheduled to avoid. Special outdoor tiles were put down in front of the stages to protect the grass and keep it from turning to mud.
The 2005 festival also doubled the talent budget and raised 3-day ticket prices from $45 to $75. Conlon cited media reports of potential traffic problems from Music Midtown and the concurrent Vibe MusicFest at the Georgia Dome as "killing" advance ticket sales in the weeks before the event. Others believe that the higher ticket prices may have exceeded the affordability of younger concert-goers. The slated 2005 dates were also concurrent with the increasingly popular Bonnaroo music and arts festival in neighboring Tennessee, which may have affected both attendance and artist booking.
Hiatus and resurrection
On January 5, 2006, Conlon announced that there would be no Music Midtown in 2006 due to the growing expenses of the festival in its current form and location. Although Conlon left open the possibility of a return at a different location in the future, this ultimately left Music Midtown in limbo and on hiatus through 2010.On July 6, 2011, Mayor Kasim Reed and Conlon announced that the festival would return for 2011 as a one-day event on September 24, 2011, at Piedmont Park. Ticket prices for the event were $55, with two stages and The Black Keys and Coldplay headlining. Additional acts included Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, Young the Giant, The Joy Formidable and others.
On September 21, 2011, Conlon said due to the success of advance ticket sales for 2011, he was already planning for a 2012 version of the festival. "Next year will definitely be two days, a little more diverse," he said. "I felt that getting something this year was important. It's gotten people focused again. But I'll start thinking about next year the week after this one. It takes a year to plan these things right." Following the event, local media estimated attendance at 40,000.
In 2015, a fourth stage was added to the summer festival. This year they spent almost in $18 million in production. They also donated $100,000 to the Piedmont Park Conservancy. According to the research center at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, attendee spending brings over $11 million of income to Atlanta.
In 2016, the creators decided to change the format of the festival. In previous years, the shows took place on Friday and Saturday. The new format moved the shows to Saturday and Sunday due to the large amount of traffic from the neighboring Henry W. Grady High School and the rush hour time period posing a risk.
Lineups
1994 lineup
Friday, May 13, 1994 - Sunday May 15, 1994Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Buddy Guy, Eddie Money, Joan Baez, Saffire — The Uppity Blues Women, Sam Phillips, Subsonics, Al Green, Cigar Store Indians, James Brown, Jason & the Scorchers, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Murray Attaway, Ottoman Empire, The Charlatans, The Derek Trucks Band, The Knack, Uncle Green, WILD WEST Picture Show, Cowboy Mouth, Cracker, Dash Rip Rock, Five-Eight, James
1995 lineup
Friday, May 12, 1995 - Sunday May 14, 1995Bush, Gov't Mule, Little Feat, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Our Lady Peace, Collective Soul, Edwin McCain, Chris Duarte, God Street Wine, The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, The Stone Roses, The BoDeans, Cake, Matthew Sweet, Everything, The Band, NRBQ, Buckwheat Zydeco, Adam Ant, The Bottle Rockets, Magnapop, Delbert McClinton, Josh Joplin Group, Rebirth Brass Band, Village People, Cigar Store Indians, Bone Pony, Five Chinese Brothers, Francine Reed, Gracie Moon, The Kentucky Headhunters, Matthew Kahler, Shawn Mullins, Tinsley Ellis, Sounds of Blackness, Supreme Court
1996 lineup
Friday, May 3, 1996 - Sunday May 5, 1996 - One Day Pass: $17; Weekend Pass: $27.003 lb. Thrill, 3 Lost Souls, Aimee Mann, Adrian Legg, Anti Heros, Anders Osborne, Becky Sharp, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Big Fish Ensemble, Bill Morrissey, The Black Crowes, Bob Dylan, The Bobs, Bone Pony, The Bottlerockets, Brother Cane, Buddy Guy Big Band, Cake, Catfish Jenkins, Chambers Brothers, Chief Seattle, Clay Harper & The Rhythm Tyrants, Cornershop, Cracker, Dallas County Line, Dash Rip Rock, Dirty Dozen, Doublewide, Dry County, Edwin McCain, Evan & Jaron, Fiji Mariners, Fishbone, Fleming & John, For Squirrels, Francine Reed, Fred Schneider, Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, Goose Creek Symphony, Gracie Moon, Gren, Groundscore, Gurufish, Hip Heavy Lip, Howard Jones, HoHum, Ian Moore, Jake, Jan Smith, Joan Baez, Joe Ely, Joe Satriani, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Wesley Harding, Johnny Hyde Quartet, Josh Joplin Band, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Kool & The Gang, Larry McCray, Law of Nature, League of Decency, Leftover Salmon, Lift, Lisa Loeb, Lil Red Rocket, Lonesome Jones, Loudflower, Lounge Flounders, Luther Allison, Mary Fortune Express, Memory Dean, Moonwater, Morris Day & The Time, Norman Blake, NRBQ, Ohio Players, One Without, Poe, Ride the Wood, The Roches, Robben Ford & The Blue Line, Root 88, Ruby, Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, Schtum, Shadowcaste, Shawn Colvin, Sightseers, Sister Hazel, Snapdragon, Sparklehorse, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Steel Pulse, Stir, The Stowes, Super X13, Syd Straw, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Tender Idols, This Living Hand, Toadies, Umajets, Uncle Mark Reynolds, Urban Shakedancers, Vertical Horizon, Wailing Souls, Wanderlust, Zachary Richard
KIDS STAGE: Planet Earth Inc. Lee Bryan's Premier Puppets, Juggling Dou Dan Thurman & Philip Solomon, Joanie Bartels from the Disney Channel, Mario "The Laff Master", Rick Hubbard & His All Star Kazoo Band, Plus Activity areas with arts & crafts, games and more.
1997 lineup
May 2, 1997 - May 4, 1997 - Weekend Pass: $27.00Number 1 Family Mover, 3 Lost Souls, 702, Acoustic Workshop, Alicia Bridges, Al Jarreau, Angie Aparo, Automatic, B Rock & The Bizz, Barenaked Ladies, BeauSoleil, Ben Folds Five, Better Than Ezra, Billy pilgrim, Boobytrap, The Boo Radleys, Cake, Cheap Trick, Christion, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Continentals, Cool For August, Cowboy Envy, Cowboy Mouth, Cravin' Melon, Dash Rip Rock, David Ryan Harris, Dayroom, Delbert McClinton, Dinosaur Jr., Edwin McCain, Kevn Kinney & Warren Haynes, Emmet Swimming, Eric Johnson, Expanding Man, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Fernando Aragon, File´, Five-Eight, Fleming & John, The Floyds, Francine Reed, Fuel, funky Meters, Geno Delafose & French Rockin Boogie, George Clinton & The P Funk Allstars, Gibb Droll, Glass Candle Grenade, Gov’t Mule, Gravy, Hazel Virtue, The Hazies, Hip Heavy Lip, Hobex, Jonny Lang, Johnny Hyde Quartet, Jonatha Brooke, Jump Little Children, K's Choice, Kelly Hogan & Lee Jeffrey, Leroy Jones, Local H, Lonesome Jones, Lonnie Brooks, Los Lobos, Los Straitjackets, Madfly, Michelle Malone, Mishap, Modern English, Monica, Muse, Musique, Neilson Hubbard, The Nields, Pascal Bokar, Patty Griffin, People Who Must, Radiant City, Reuben Anderson, Rockapella, Root Doctors, Royal Crown Revue, Santana, Saw Doctors, Seek, Sevendust, Shinehead, Shock Lobo, Silverchair, Sister Hazel, Six Ways To Sunday, Skirt, Slim Fatz & Uprighteous, Sons of the San Joaquin, Soul Miners Daughter, Sounds of Blackness, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Steve Miller Band, Stir, String Cheese Incident, Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band, Tender Idols, treehouse, Trinket, Velmer Watkins & The Angelic Community Choir, Vigilantes Of Love, Wallflowers, War, Wild West Picture Show, Young Gary, ZZ Top