Atlanta, Ga.—The season of music festivals is almost over in Atlanta after the rollercoaster of a ride that was the Sixth Annual Music Midtown. Piedmont Park was packed Sept. 17 and 18 with thousands of people of all ages with one thought in common: this was the most unorganized music festival they had been to, but the music was worth it.
Festivalgoers waited two to three hours in the will call and ticket line to retrieve or purchase their wristbands. This line caused many people to miss sets they paid to see, like DNCE and Logic. People griped and complained as they waited to go in and enjoy the festival. Security provided a quick and efficient process keeping the crowd moving with multiple lines as opposed to the will call and ticket line. Once everyone was in, the tension temporarily eased and everyone enjoyed Music Midtown.
Saturday was the day for the rap and hip-hop artists. Killer sets were lined with Logic, Big Boi, G-Eazy and ColleGrove (2 Chainz and Lil Wayne). Big Boi played a lot of OutKast songs during his performance, which generated a diverse crowd of young and older people, especially when he busted out “Mrs. Jackson,” one of OutKast’s more popular songs.
The crowd shifted over to the next stage to listen to Logic, but many left early to go get good spots to watch ColleGrove or alternative band Beck, who was located on the other side of the park. It was a tough decision between ColleGrove and Beck, but I along with others split my time between the two.
2 Chainz and Lil Wayne always give a great performance; they get the crowd pumped when they play their popular solo songs as opposed to anything on their combined album.
Beck gave a stellar vocal performance, playing classic songs like “Loser” and “I Think I’m in Love.” He gave it all he had and provided an infectious, energetic feeling that carried on to the last big act of the night: twenty one pilots.
This was twenty one pilots’ biggest festival performance, and they did not disappoint, drawing a bigger crowd than any other performer that night.
“It’s so crazy to think they were ‘nobodies’ two years ago, and now they are the biggest performer here,” said 22-year-old Katie Smith, who came specifically for the duo.
In 2013 they were the opening act at UWG for Neon Trees. Since then, they have skyrocketed to fame with songs like “Stressed Out” and “Heathens,” which both were performed at Music Midtown. They never stopped moving around the stage, giving an all-around entertaining performance to end day one.
Day two started out better. Since everyone had their wristbands and did not have to wait in a will call or ticket line, they only needed their wristbands scanned for entry.
Singer-songwriter Daya kicked off the music and was followed by crowd-pleaser Melanie Martinez, who belted out her stunning song “Pity Party.” The weather did not want to cooperate though as the rain began to pour around 4:30 p.m. Security evacuated festival goers and Music Midtown told people to wait for an update on the continuation of the festival via social media.
Time passed without a word. People began tweeting their frustrations of the festival’s lack of planning, the possibility of refunds and other malicious comments. People were most upset about the festival’s “rain or shine” policy, which means the show will go on no matter what, with the exception of lightning. Yet they still evacuated with no thunder or lightning. Music Midtown’s twitter account announced that everyone would be allowed to go back in at 5:30 p.m. and music would resume at 6 p.m. The schedule had to be readjusted, but everything worked out in the end.
Fans stood in the rain and mud all night to listen to Sunday night’s front liners The Killers, who rocked the stage until 11 p.m., ending another Music Midtown.
