Music Midtown now an Atlanta music icon

2013+lineup+vs.+2014+lineup

Tyler Sesan

2013 lineup vs. 2014 lineup

Tyler Sesan, Features editor

Music Midtown 2014, a festival that heavily favored and featured a majority of alternative rock bands, received only positive reviews from those who attended.

“It felt bigger, and it was definitely brighter than last year. The biggest challenge was deciding who to see in overlapping performances,” Atlanta Journal Constitution staff writer Melissa Ruggieri said.

One of the biggest performers, and anchor of the festival, rapper Eminem closed the show with a bang in front of over 100,000 people. Eminem, who returned to Atlanta for the first time in nine years, opened his act with a mini-movie about “Stan” concluding his disappearance. As the curtain dropped to the ground, the rapper immediately burst onto stage rapping a song from his latest album, MMLP2 “Bad Guy.” Piedmont Park, filled with rocking fans, enjoyed the established rapper as he took the crowd back to his older days playing songs “Marshall Mathers,” “Criminal,” “Stan,” “Without Me,” and “The Way I Am.”

Fans had another reason to be excited as midway through the performance, when rapper B.o.B. walked onto stage and joined Eminem in singing “Airplanes Part 2.”

To close his amazing two hour performance, the beloved rapper made a shout out to all those suffering a lost significant other and sang Recovery album hit “Not Afraid.” Shortly after Eminem exited the stage flashing his middle finger at the crowd, fans joined each other in chanting “EM-IN-EM,” wanting nothing more than an encore. Roughly two minutes later, Eminem’s stage man, Mr. Porter, streamed the beat to number one hit “Lose Yourself” as the rapper walked slowly onto stage to conclude an epic Music Midtown.

Lana Del Rey, the act that attracted a large portion of the fans at the park, slowly dragged herself across stage before Eminem performed. Before she set to perform, fans became worried she would not be present. Del Rey recently had to cancel shows in Europe because she had gotten sick. However, the outcome seemed different this time, and as Lana strutted on stage in her elegant red dress, the crowd lost itself.

Seniors Tyler Sesan, Chris Degirolamo, and Sandra Honkpo take a selfie mid-Music Midtown to document their time on Piedmont Park's vast park for the festival.
Tyler Sesan
Seniors Tyler Sesan, Chris Degirolamo, and Sandra Honkpo take a selfie mid-Music Midtown to document their time on Piedmont Park’s vast park for the festival.

Lana entertained the stir-crazy fans by playing her most popular songs “Born to Die,” “Ultraviolence,” “National Anthem,” “Blue Jeans,” and “Ride.” The beloved singer who struggled with alcoholism early in her life at 15 attracted many people who find her story relatable and inspiring. Lana even got down off the stage to sign autographs, take selfies on fans’ phones, and could be seen taking a picture from a fan’s Polaroid.

While Lana stole the show before Eminem, she could not have done this without the fan crowd showing their love for her final song, the popular “Video Games.” If she had the crowd begging for more before she sang her finale, she really had them screaming after singing “Video Games.”

After Chicago rapper Vic Mensa finished his opening act, well-known four-year rap artist native to Atlanta B.o.B. walked on stage decked out in Falcons gear. “Man, Georgia just has the most beautiful weather, doesn’t it?” B.o.B. said as he walked on stage. The artist received great acceptance when the crowd burst into excitement as he opened with “Ready,” a song from his 2013 album Underground Luxury. The Atlanta artist brought out featured guest rapper Young Dro to rap “FDB” with him. This song in particular riled the crowd.

To keep the energy flowing strong through the crowd, B.o.B. followed “FDB” with popular song “Memories Back Then.” B.o.B.’s flashy attire and interactions with the crowd got them pumped. When B.o.B. performed “Out of My Mind,” he ran around to different sections of the field, hung on the railings in front of the fans, and even crowd surfed. According to the crowd’s reaction, perhaps his best performance came when he rapped “Strange Clouds” early in his act.  B.o.B. stole the crowd before Lana Del Rey performed, and with his great performance, fans should expect to see him back in Atlanta, rapping for his hometown very soon.