The Music Midtown festival, a staple in the Atlanta music scene for decades, has been canceled for 2022. Reports indicate that the decision came down to Georgia’s gun control laws.
Music Midtown’s lineup was stacked this year, with Jack White, Future, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Phoenix and Phoebe Bridgers among the eclectic acts set to perform. However, parent company Live Nation made the shocking announcement that the festival, scheduled for Sept. 17 and 18, would not go ahead as planned.
“Hey Midtown fans — due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year,” the fest said via its social media sites. “We were looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can all get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”
https://twitter.com/MusicMidtown/status/1554104695211294721?s=20&t=SjMsUxecWVY96ldDR9YyWQ
Though Live Nation did not go into detail regarding the cancellation, Atlanta-based journalist George Chidi reported that the state’s gun laws were to blame.
“My understanding is [the cancellation] is because Georgia’s gun laws make it impossible to bar firearms from Piedmont Park, a condition required by many artists’ concert riders,” Chidi explained in a tweet.
Likewise, follow-up reports from others (including Rolling Stone and Consequence) noted that Music Midtown’s prohibited items list included “weapons or explosives of any kind” — a standard clause for large-scale events such as this. However, Georgia’s laws allow gun owners to bring their firearms into almost any public space, including public parks like Piedmont Park where Music Midtown was scheduled to be held. Attempting to enforce their weapons ban would have opened festival organizers up to potential lawsuits, while allowing the patrons to openly carry guns would have violated contracts with artists — many of whom have gun-free clauses to their tour riders — not to mention potentially putting attendees in harm’s way.
The ripple effect here could be fierce, as Music Midtown is just one of many major music festivals held in Georgia. Something like Imagine Festival, which is held on privately owned grounds, likely wouldn’t be affected. But festivals such as Shaky Knees, One Musicfest and the SweetWater 420 fest are held in public parks and could potentially face similar issues.
