By: Reem Hamoda – 2nd year – Epidemiology
I am obsessed with music. Not great at performing it, but cannot go a day without pulling up one of my many Spotify playlists and jamming to some hot bops. If you’re like me, you probably also love seeing your favorite acts perform live. Luckily, Atlanta is a great city to do so! Atlanta is one of the biggest hubs of musical artists across the nation, a place where artists like Migos, OutKast, and John Mayer truly call “home” . Even if your favorite artist is not an OG Atlantan(?), they are likely to tour through at one of our the many small and large venues in the ATL. Let me take you through all of the wonderful music offerings Atlanta has to offer you, experienced by yours truly!
Terminal West
Artist: Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells! What a freaking amazing show. You may not know them by name, but you may have heard their hits: “Kids”, “Infinity Guitars”, “Crown on the Ground”, etc. in many angsty teen television dramas. I’ve loved this band since I was an angsty teen myself, and it was a delight to see them in such a cool venue! Terminal West is a standing room-only venue, with cool decor and a relaxed vibe. You probably won’t go here for a top-40 artist, but it’s an awesome place to just rock out with your friends and not care how embarrassing you look. Check out Terminal West’s future lineups for the rest of 2017!
Variety Playhouse
Artist: Japandroids
Guys, not only do I love going to shows, but I love going to shows last minute 🙂 Variety Playhouse is located in Little Five Points, a hip and quirky Atlanta neighborhood with cool shops and dope food. My friends and I had hit up The Porter for some next-level yummy herb fries, when my friends told me they were going to see a band called “Japandroids” right after. I gave them a quick listen at Porter (headphones are glued to me at all times, duh), and decided to go! Bought the tix on Facebook for ~$25, and once we finished at Porter we hobbled over to the venue (which was conveniently right across the street!). Friends, I was very happy in my decision – Japandroids are such a fun band! They’re gaining popularity and I believe the song “Near To the Wild Heart of Life” went viral on Spotify. If you want to have a Porter-and-then-Variety-Playhouse kinda night, check out future concerts here!
Tabernacle
Artist: Seeing 6LACK there soon!
The strangest thing is that I have yet to go to a concert at Tabernacle! This is the concert venue, located in downtown Atlanta, where you can catch bigger acts like SZA (don’t ask me how sad I am that I didn’t see her), 6BLACK (going to see them soon!) and BØRNS (also going to see them soon!). Get used to frequent Tabernacle visits if you’re a concert junkie. Check out future shows here.
Music Midtown
Artist: Like, everyone (this pic is from The Killers)
If you’re looking for a Lollapalooza in your backyard, then this is the event for you! Happening mid-September every year, Music Midtown is a giant festival of your favorite artists performing in Piedmont Park, which is easily accessible by BeltLine or MARTA. Previous headliners include Bruno Mars, The Killers, Drake, Blink-182, Sam Smith, and Future; however, there are so many good acts throughout the weekend that it’ll probably be difficult to choose which ones to attend! I went to Music Midtown in September 2016, and I absolutely loved it. Being able to see Kesha, CHVRCHES, 2 Chainz and The Killers in one festival was literally the dream. You can check out this year’s lineup here. Tickets are usually $160 and typically go on sale in July!
Now, even though it’s second year and I should be working on thesis, the music obsession is too real and I had to stock up on future shows (as I mentioned above). You can catch me at these future shows happening in Atlanta:
H.E.R – November 8, 2017- The Loft
Song recommendation: “Focus”
6LACK– November 26, 2017- Tabernacle
Song recommendation: “PRBLMS”
BØRNS– February 6, 2018- Tabernacle
Song recommendation: “Past Lives”
Maybe I’ll see you there!
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