When school started in August, most students began to perceive their social lives as “over” or “done for.” Music Midtown, however, is the last opportunity for fun before the full stress of the school year kicks in and social lives are concluded while obtaining a trendy façade.
Music Midtown is a two-day music festival the third weekend in September in Downtown Atlanta that grabs the attention of music lovers everywhere.
“Music Midtown is just so fun! It’s such a good time to hang out with friends. Every set brings a different vibe and it’s so cool to see a few of your favorite artists all in one weekend,” said senior Tatiana Hamade.
Music Midtown started in 1994, with only four bands performing. The music festival started as a rival festival to the New Orleans Jazz Fest (Atlanta Magazine). Today, in 2017, Music Midtown is one of the biggest music festivals in Atlanta. With a whopping 36 big name bands performing, including headliners: Bruno Mars, Future, Mumford and Sons and Blink-182.
Headliners Bruno Mars and Mumford and Sons closed out the festival Saturday and Sunday night, thus making them “two of the best performances of the entire festival,” said junior Betsy McDaniel. Bruno Mars performed with his group “The Hooligans” a band including: Philip Lawrence, Eric Hernandez, Jamareo Artis and dancers, the Smeezingtons (Wikipedia). Mars performed songs off his new album 24K Magic along with his only songs such as, “Grenade,” “Locked Out of Heaven” and “Marry You.” Mars was a great closer for Music Midtown and put the crowd in a good mood with his elite group of musicians and dancers. Mars concluded his show with his hit song “Uptown Funk” and a firework show.
Music Midtown intentionally caters to everyone’s music taste, which is why they are one of the biggest music festivals in the state. Music Midtown has four stages, sponsored by: Roxy, Cotton Club, Honda and Salesforce, giving festival-goers the opportunity to see even more of their favorite bands.
Junior Ashwin Gidwani enjoyed “rappers, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean and Future,” in hopes to better improve his rap game for his up and coming mixtape.
This year, there were roughly 100,000 people at Music Midtown this year, making this the biggest crowd Music Midtown has ever had (Music Midtown Instagram). “There were tons of people at Music Midtown, so it was hard to find your friends if you got separated, but everyone had balloons, so we could find each other,” said senior Madison McKemie.
Music Midtown is a great opportunity to build relationships, listen to music, and relive your summer social life for two days before going back into the stress of the school year.
“Going to Music Midtown was a great experience for me because I rarely go to concerts and being able to go to an event where I can see multiple artists in just two days was awesome,” said senior Garrett Hangartner.
Overall, Music Midtown 2017 was a great opportunity for students to listen to their favorite bands, and Music Midtown left students with scratchy voices, ruined shoes and happy hearts.
