ATLive Announces Return; Atlanta Music Midtown Cancels Event

Good news and bad news for music fans in Georgia’s state capitol. While Atlanta’s ATLive concert series has unveiled details for its return to the city in November, Atlanta Music Midtown organizers have called off the two-day festival that was supposed to take place in September.

ATLive powered by Ticketmaster returns for the third year to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov. 11 and 12. Billy Joel, Lionel Richie and Sheryl Crow will all be taking the stage on Nov. 11; Nov. 12 will feature performances from Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Dwight Yoakam and Katie Pruitt.

“We are proud to announce an incredible lineup of artists for ATLive,” Tim Zulawski, senior vice president and chief revenue officer of AMB Sports and Entertainment, said in a statement. “The ATLive concert series has quickly become a must-see event for Atlanta and the Southeast, delivering a world-class experience at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with some of the greatest artists of this generation.”

Tickets for this year’s event will go on sale Aug. 12 at 10 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Music Midtown has announced the festival will not be taking place Sept. 17-18 Piedmont Park after all. The event was supposed to feature performances from more than 30 artists with a lineup topped by My Chemical Romance, Future, Jack White and Fall Out Boy.

Live Nation announced the festival was canceled Aug. 1 with a statement saying: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year. We are looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”

“Refunds will be processed automatically within the next 24 hours to the original method of payment. Please allow 7-10 business days for the refund to be processed by your bank. For any questions related to refunds, please visit contact.frontgatetickets.com.”

Live Nation did not provide an official reason for the cancellation, but sources have claimed Georgia’s gun laws led to organizers calling off the event. On July 29, George Chidi, a journalist for The Atlanta Objective, tweeted that Music Midtown would soon be called off, writing, “my understand is that it is because Georgia’s gun laws make it impossible to bar firearms from Piedmont Park, a condition required by many artists’ concert riders.”

Live Nation has not responded to Pollstar‘s request for comment.