All across Emory, people have been talking about the two main music events that came to Atlanta this fall: Music Midtown and TomorrowWorld. If you haven’t heard of these events, you need to get out more. While Music Midtown attracted the more eclectic, hipster, and rap music fans, TomorrowWorld attracted those who love house music, DJings, raging, partying, etc. Essentially, any fan of any given genre of music found their place at one of these events this month. If you’re like me and were not able to attend either event (still suffering from major FOMO), or if you’re looking to mentally relive the days- look no further! I decided to interview those who attended and ask them for their ranking of the event on a scale out of ten with a description of why they chose that number to see exactly how badly I missed out.
(Accessatlanta.com)
Music Midtown- AVERAGE RANKING: 8.1/10
September 19 & September 20
Piedmont Park
· 9/10
“I think Midtown had a great lineup, not only for people of all music tastes but for people of all ages as well. Personally, I thought the festival was well done on all accounts. Iggy surpassed all my expectations, to be honest. I would say performance-wise, both Iggy and B.o.B killed it. Musically, however, John Mayer will always have my heart. I don’t know anyone who didn’t have a good time!” –Maddie Klingeman
· 9/10
“I would give it a 9/10 based on that fact that first of all the music was great, all the performers sounded great. In my opinion, the best was Bastille and Eminem. Bastille was great because he actually went into the audience and he walked through the crowd. He was within ten feet of me and it was crazy! He’s also beautiful and British. During one of his songs, he had us all squat on the ground when he was building up to the chorus. Everyone was sitting on their knees at one point and just looking around, it was incredible seeing a sea of people waiting together for the beat to drop. When it did, everyone jumped up at the same time and it felt you were a part of something big. I personally didn’t enjoy Iggy Azelea’s performance- wasn’t into it. The food, lines were long, but well worth the wait. They included a variety of different foods. I got a falafel gyro, which was delicious. They also had crab cakes, pizza, enchiladas, pulled pork, frozen bananas- I honestly just wanted to eat everything. The only issue, I think, was that it was so excruciatingly hot that I immediately sweat out anything I drank. I smelt really bad. Also, there’s always that one girl sitting on someone’s shoulders right in front of you that you hate and you have to watch the concert through her phone screen.” –Tori Kargman
· 8/10 (Mostly earned because of John Mayer who was unreal)
“It was my first festival type of concert, and I had an amazing time. I was super close to Ron Pope who sang his hit song, ‘A Drop in the Ocean,’ beautifully. I also saw Iggy, who was an amazing performer and really engaged the crowd. After Iggy though, it was beyond crowded and hard to get close to Lorde, so I listened from afar and then squished my way through the crowd with friends to watch John Mayer’s incredible performance that raised all girls’ standards for guys. He was even better live and captivated the audience with his edgy glasses and a trip down memory lane with his older songs that everyone loves to sing along to.” –Jess Schneider
· 7.5/10
“The music was great. Eminem was definitely my favorite act, with Lana Del Ray coming in second. But being under five feet tall makes it difficult to see anything. The food was the best part. I had a mac and cheese burger- definitely the most memorable part of the experience.” –Cassie Spallino
· 7/10
“I’d give it a 7 because it was fun and exciting and most of the artists were pretty good. It was poorly planned though – if you wanted to get a good spot for the next artist you had to leave the act you were seeing at least half an hour early, schlep across the park and then watch the next artist staring into the bald spot of some man who was clearly too old to be at the festival in the first place.” –Jake Lerner
(Festticket.com)
TomorrowWorld- AVERAGE RANKING: 10/10
September 26, 27, &28
Chattahoochee Hills, GA
· 10/10
“I would say it’s a 10, because it’s the most unreal experience ever. It feels like you’re in a different world! The lineup was really good. Kygo and Tiesto were amazing. The price was definitely worth it!” –Katie Greener
· 8/10
“It was honestly an amazing time. The main stage set up was incredible and the other stages were all unique in their own way. To get to one stage you had to cross a bridge over water and it felt as if you were entering another land. I went last year and this was much better. I think also since last year was the first year here in America, it was more of a test run. This year, it was executed much better. The lineup was incredible. Zedd was the highlight of my night- he killed it. The only downside was that there was little to no service, which made it difficult to find people, especially when you get lost or separated from who you came with. Also the line at will call to get your bracelet was very unorganized and hectic. The last downside would be the traffic to get into the concert. It was one lane and since it was in the middle of nowhere, you had to wait to get to the venue. But once you got past all that, it was one of the best concerts I’ve been to.” –Syd Wolchok
· 10/10
“It was it’s own world away from reality.” –Justin Garber
· 10/10
“Not one year of college will go by where I don’t go back to TomorrowWorld. Life-changing experience.” –Jesse Richheimer
· 12/10
“Honestly, Tomorrowworld was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was all about the music– it truly was an entire different world. The venue itself was absolutely amazing, and it’s insane to think about all of the planning and designs that were implemented into the show. The best lineup, in my opinion, was on Saturday. Going on Friday was great– Kygo killed it, especially for someone to take on Avicii’s place so last minute and still have the time and energy to fly to Nashville from Tomorroworld and play another set there. Friday’s best was Zedd for sure. For Saturday, Diplo was my favorite of the night, along with Dillon Francis and Milo & Otis. The trap stages were amazing, and the crowd was just so upbeat– it put everyone in the mood to just be free for the weekend– to all sort of bond together for the experience of TomorrowWorld– the experience of a lifetime.” –Jordan Weynand
· 10/10
“TomorrowWorld was spectacular and definitely a 10/10. It was an incredible experience where Kygo, Nicky Romero, Zedd, and Tiesto could not have been better. The main stage was better than any I’ve seen at Electric Zoo or Electric Daisy Carnival. The light and fireworks show during the performances were also fantastic. Definitely one of the most fun events I’ve ever been to and best days of my life!” –Ryan Salzman
After getting all these rankings and quotes, I’ve come to the verdict that I really missed out. Both weekends seemed like a great time and very impressive events overall. Although each had its’ drawbacks, the general consensus was that it was definitely worth it. Looks like I’ll start saving up now for next year!