Five years ago, Imagine Dragons was on the cusp of arena stardom when they played the secondary stage at Music Midtown.
“(Drummer) Daniel Platzman (an Atlanta native) told me the reason he became a drummer was because his uncle took him to Music Midtown when he was in school years ago,” said Peter Conlon, president of Live Nation Atlanta, which produces the annual city concert.
This fall, Imagine Dragons graduates to headliner status for the 2018 edition of the two-day music festival, along with fellow marquee names Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone – who played a sold-out show at Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood on Sunday – and Fall Out Boy
Joining the frontline four acts on four stages are Khalid, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Gucci Mane, Janelle Monáe, Portugal. The Man, The Revivalists, Foster the People, Kacey Musgraves, Sylvan Esso, BØRNS, First Aid Kit, Billie Eilish, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Bazzi, AWOLNATION, Chromeo, Butch Walker, Maggie Rogers, K.Flay, ARIZONA, Twin Shadow, Robert DeLong, lovelytheband, SAINt JHN, Two Feet, Black Pistol Fire, SiR, The Aces, Mattiel, Arthur Buck, Yuno and Berklee College of Music.
“The lineup reflects the audience,” said Conlon last week in Live Nation’s Buckhead offices. “There’s a central thrust toward a young crowd.”
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Tickets for the festival, which takes place Sept. 15-16 in Piedmont Park, where it has resided since returning in 2011, will go on sale at 10 a.m. June 15 at MusicMidtown.com.
Two-day general admission prices are $135 plus fees and taxes (prices will increase as the event gets closer); two-day VIP tickets (which includes dedicated entrances, VIP lounge access, preferred stage viewing areas, complimentary food, beer and wine and air-conditioned restrooms) are $600 plus fees and taxes; and two-day Super VIP tickets (which includes all of the VIP amenities plus air-conditioned luxury lounge access and seating, premium open bar, gourmet catered food and golf cart transportation between the Meadow stages) are $1,250 plus fees and taxes.
“You have to compare prices to any of today’s shows,” Conlon said. “A $150 ticket is the average price to see one act, and this is still the biggest music festival in Georgia.”
Last year's Music Midtown, which spotlighted Bruno Mars, Future, Blink-182 and Mumford & Sons, attracted more than 70,000 fans each day.
The layout of the event will remain the same – last year’s additional bathrooms will be back – and a few tweaks are expected to the food selection, including more vegan and gluten-free options.
“I think we’ve got a really good during-the-day up-and-coming lineup,” Conlon said, specifying Michigan singer Bazzi as an artist to catch and Gucci Mane and Butch Walker as home state representatives. “It’s a good mix.”
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