Conlon Revives Music Midtown

Music Midtown, which was an Atlanta fixture from 1994-2005, is being resurrected by Live Nation with veteran promoter Peter Conlon at the helm. After six years in search of a suitable home, the city and Conlon announced Piedmont Park Meadow near downtown Atlanta will host the festival with Coldplay, Black Keys and others Sept. 24.

“This is not the 13th year of Music Midtown, it’s the first year of the new Music Midtown,” Conlon told Pollstar. “We’ve given a lot of thought as to how we wanted to approach doing another festival.

“The key element here, and what drove it, is the site. We always had problems with sites. We’d moved it three times in the past,” Conlon continued. “Given the possibility of being able to do this in Piedmont Park … really excited us and got me to consider doing the festival again.”

In addition to Coldplay and Black Keys, others artists confirmed include Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, Young The Giant, Band of Skulls, Joy Formidable, The Constellations, Mona, and The Postelles.

Conlon and his crew, after working out the site, permit and other kinks that had dogged the festival, went to work booking in earnest only in April. Given the number of summer festivals and that most major acts are booked up by then wasn’t as much of a problem as Conlon had anticipated.

And if all goes well, there’s even a chance Music Midtown may spill over an extra day.

“We got started on it with a pretty short fuse this year, and we’re able to put together right now the Saturday (Sept. 24). It may become a two-day festival if everything comes into play, but Saturday is done and booked so we decided to go ahead and put it on sale,” Conlon explained. “If we add another day, we’ll just be adding it as a separate day. Actually, the booking came together pretty quickly. We’re very happy with it.”

And fans should be happy with the ticket price: $55 for the day general admission, plus $1 that goes to Centers of Hope, a charity supported by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed that funds recreation centers in inner city parks.

“I am pleased to partner with Peter Conlon and Live Nation to bring Music Midtown back to our city,” Reed said in a statement. “Piedmont Park is a world-class venue that is perfect for a world-class music festival.

“This is an event that will bring energy and excitement to midtown and attract music lovers from across the city and state.”

Tickets go on sale July 16 at 10 a.m. EDT, including VIP and Super VIP packages.