Buy:atlantamoi
03-12-05, 07:32 AM
Here's some first rumblings about MM this June (date changed later so the weather would be warmer... WHAT?). Their official site opens on March 15 and will probably include a larger list.....
Music Midtown '05: Changing the beat
By NICK MARINO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/12/2005
At this year's Music Midtown, country is in, pop music is out and hip-hop is in the hands of Jermaine Dupri.
Friday, festival producer Peter Conlon confirmed that this year's multi-stage concert event, scheduled for June 10-12, will drop the pop-oriented Q100 stage in favor of a country stage sponsored by Kicks 101.5 FM. Performing there will be the Aussie hunk Keith Urban, the easygoing Alan Jackson and the legendary Loretta Lynn, plus Montgomery Gentry, Jo Dee Messina and Cross Canadian Ragweed.
Other confirmed Music Midtown artists include the White Stripes, the Pixies, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Kid Rock, Keane, the Killers, Joan Jett, the Features, Coheed and Cambria, Mofro, Louis XIV and Bloc Party. Visual artist Todd Murphy will provide an art installation featuring his work and the work of Georgia college students.
Producing (and performing on) this year's urban music stage will be Atlanta music mogul Dupri, the man behind So So Def Records.
Conlon said that this year's festival is already 90 percent booked — bookings started coming in late last year — and further artist announcements will trickle out in the coming weeks. The total number of artists will be roughly 100.
Hip-hop fans will want to pay special attention to Dupri's lineup, which will go head-to-head with the new Vibe MusicFest taking place the same weekend at the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center. No artist playing Music Midtown will also play Vibe, Conlon said.
But he stressed that a city of Atlanta's size can handle both simultaneously, just as it does when concerts conflict with Braves games or other events.
"There's four and a half million people, and I only want 100,000 of them, so I'm not concerned about it," Conlon said.
"In a perfect world, if they chose a different weekend it would be great," he added. "But I think they're a different experience."
Music Midtown drew crowds of about 66,000 per day and lost money the last two years. In better years, like 2002, the festival drew 100,000 fans a day.
After last year, in which potential festival-goers seemed scared off by bad weather (or, as Conlon says, bad weather forecasts), Music Midtown changed its date from the first weekend in May to mid-June, which Conlon said has made booking talent quicker and easier because it is more in line with the outdoor concert season up North. Another factor in this year's star-studded booking: Music Midtown tripled its entertainment budget.
The budget isn't the only thing that's up. Three-day passes this year will cost $65, a 20-buck hike from last year.
But Conlon still considers that a bargain relative to the Tennessee music festival Bonnaroo (also June 10-12), which is charging $172.50 for remaining tickets, and the California fest Coachella (April 30 to May 1), which is charging $150 for a two-day pass.
"Every festival has a hook," Conlon said. "And our hook is great talent for a moderate price."
Music Midtown '05: Changing the beat
By NICK MARINO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/12/2005
At this year's Music Midtown, country is in, pop music is out and hip-hop is in the hands of Jermaine Dupri.
Friday, festival producer Peter Conlon confirmed that this year's multi-stage concert event, scheduled for June 10-12, will drop the pop-oriented Q100 stage in favor of a country stage sponsored by Kicks 101.5 FM. Performing there will be the Aussie hunk Keith Urban, the easygoing Alan Jackson and the legendary Loretta Lynn, plus Montgomery Gentry, Jo Dee Messina and Cross Canadian Ragweed.
Other confirmed Music Midtown artists include the White Stripes, the Pixies, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Kid Rock, Keane, the Killers, Joan Jett, the Features, Coheed and Cambria, Mofro, Louis XIV and Bloc Party. Visual artist Todd Murphy will provide an art installation featuring his work and the work of Georgia college students.
Producing (and performing on) this year's urban music stage will be Atlanta music mogul Dupri, the man behind So So Def Records.
Conlon said that this year's festival is already 90 percent booked — bookings started coming in late last year — and further artist announcements will trickle out in the coming weeks. The total number of artists will be roughly 100.
Hip-hop fans will want to pay special attention to Dupri's lineup, which will go head-to-head with the new Vibe MusicFest taking place the same weekend at the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center. No artist playing Music Midtown will also play Vibe, Conlon said.
But he stressed that a city of Atlanta's size can handle both simultaneously, just as it does when concerts conflict with Braves games or other events.
"There's four and a half million people, and I only want 100,000 of them, so I'm not concerned about it," Conlon said.
"In a perfect world, if they chose a different weekend it would be great," he added. "But I think they're a different experience."
Music Midtown drew crowds of about 66,000 per day and lost money the last two years. In better years, like 2002, the festival drew 100,000 fans a day.
After last year, in which potential festival-goers seemed scared off by bad weather (or, as Conlon says, bad weather forecasts), Music Midtown changed its date from the first weekend in May to mid-June, which Conlon said has made booking talent quicker and easier because it is more in line with the outdoor concert season up North. Another factor in this year's star-studded booking: Music Midtown tripled its entertainment budget.
The budget isn't the only thing that's up. Three-day passes this year will cost $65, a 20-buck hike from last year.
But Conlon still considers that a bargain relative to the Tennessee music festival Bonnaroo (also June 10-12), which is charging $172.50 for remaining tickets, and the California fest Coachella (April 30 to May 1), which is charging $150 for a two-day pass.
"Every festival has a hook," Conlon said. "And our hook is great talent for a moderate price."