Music Midtown

By Laura Flint This year’s Music Midtown will not only be remembered for its diverse and talented lineup, but also for the drenching rain that persisted from the noon opening of the concert on Saturday until 5 p.m. that night.Spectators were immediately soaked (ponchos or not), and the once green, grassy hills of Piedmont Park turned into sludge and mudslides. But these poor weather conditions failed to deter the 50,000 spectators who attended the second day of the concert from getting their money’s worth.Music Midtown began in 1994 as a three-day event that quickly became one of the biggest festivals in the country, with over 300,000 concert-goers. But after 2005, the festival took a five-year hiatus due to declining attendance and increasing costs and wasn’t restarted until 2011. The success of the concert at itsnew location at Piedmont Park has own-ers optimistic about future expansion.The festival opened Friday with gorgeous weather but a less well-known setlist that included 2 Chainz, the Mowgli’s, Phoenix, Cake and Jane’s Addiction, with classic rock band Journey headlining.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AYSZBKEGJ0Of the afternoon acts, Phoenix stood out the most — this alternative French band, on tour with its newest album Bankrupt!, pumped up the hot, sweaty crowd with hits like “1901” and “Lisztomania.” Phoenix front-man Thomas Mars displayed stunning tenacity by walking into the center of the crowd and surfing back to the stage.Cake put on an interesting, disconnected show under a spinning disco ball, as lead singer John McCrea punctuated his set list with his own somewhat eccentric thoughts.Even with a 100 percent chance of rain, festival-goers swarmed to Piedmont Park early Saturday to catch acts like the Neighborhood, Capital Cities and Weezer.Sadly, many of these bands overlapped, and attendees were forced to decide whether they favored the newerelectronic sound of Capital Cities or the classic alternative tunes of Weezer.Capital Cities, who released their debut album In a Tidal Wave of Mystery in June, put on an amazing set through the pouring rain, ending with their pop anthem “Safe and Sound” and an encore dub-step remix.[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/8813997" params="color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo ventured to the edge of the stage and braved the downpour during classics like “The Sweater Song.”Artists such as boisterous English alt-rock band Arctic Monkeys and Atlanta punks the Black Lips powered through the deluge as well, but Las Vegas-based Imagine Dragons stood out as one of the best shows of theafternoon.Just as the clouds lifted, the alternative pop band put on an amazing performance that let the audience escape the discomfort of their soaked clothes and mud-caked shoes.The band was followed by the eclectic tunes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who performed their raucous brand of garage rock until 8:00. At that point, attendees had to choose between Queens of the Stone Age and Compton, Calif.-born rapper (and 2013 Emory Spring BandParty performer) Kendrick Lamar.The night ended with a three-hour performance by funky headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who looked much older than their 50 years but played their old and new hits in shirt-less, rock-n-roll glory.