Only a few months removed from stating that he didn’t want his story “to end just yet” after an apparent suicide attempt, Dess’ performance in front of a crowd that drenched him in adoration was triumphant and heartfelt, to say the least, as he closed his set with “Go Fuck Yourself,” the song that started it all for him. The emotion of his music oozed through the sound system as he soulfully cranked out a number of soothing, yet soaring guitar solos while sauntering coast to coast on the stage, basked in an intense blue light that only added to the singer-songwriter’s solemn stage presence. Two Feet, the New York indie rock fella and Berklee dropout who, only two-and-a-half short years ago, was nowhere near an opening slot on one of the hottest tours of the last year, cashiering in the Big Apple before his big break came.
Turning it down a few notches was Bill Dess a.k.a. While packaged in a short time on stage, the home of the Monarchs transformed into Whoville as the stand-alone vocalist packed a punch that balanced a mix of power-pop and a rock and roll swagger that set the tone for the rest of the evening. Delivering the second leg of their critically-acclaimed “Pray For The Wicked” tour to the Granite State, Panic! At The Disco only further cemented their still-growing legacy as one of the most energetic and engaging live bands on the road today, pulling out all the stops to curate a night the packed house would not soon forget.Īustralian-born, Berklee-educated synth-pop standout Betty Who got the show started with an energetic set that brought the bass early on, complete with a pair of choreographed dancers who, more often than not, were draped all over the singer in many… err, compromising positions. You can find out all the details on the festival here.If crazy equals genius, then Brendon Urie is a fuckin’ arsonist - and he certainly brought the heat to a sold-out SNHU Arena in Manchester on Sunday night (January 13).
But Eilish is headlining, and Cyrus is in the sixth line from the top, so I guess it didn’t work out. A year or two ago, Noah Cyrus made a real push to become the pre-Billie Eilish version of Billie Eilish. Also, Noah Cyrus, Miley’s sister, is on there. This being Atlanta, the festival will also feature 6LACK and Lil Yachty, two of the city’s homegrown stars, as well as persistently underrated local garage-punk crew the Coathangers. Charlie Puth, the UK pop star, doesn’t seem to play too many US festivals, but he’s on there. Other than Billie Eilish rising to headliner status, there are only a couple of interesting little variations on this festival lineup.
The rest of the festival is full of the types of artists you always see listed at festivals like that: Lizzo, Lord Huron, Kali Uchis, Walk The Moon, Local Natives, MØ, Sigrid, Taylor Bennett. The two-night festival has four headliners: The dominant rap star Travis Scott, the full-steam-ahead Vampire Weekend, the shockingly resilient Broadway/emo survivors Panic! At The Disco, and Billie Eilish, the teenage pop weirdo who has apparently ascended to festival-topper status in the past few months. It’s only two days, so the lineup isn’t as overwhelmingly huge as the lineups of some other festivals, but this one has some pretty big headliners.
This year’s festival will be the festival’s 19th, and it’ll come to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park 9/14-15. The mid-tier music-festival lineups keep on coming! Atlanta’s Music Midtown festival started in 1996, took six years off after 2005, and returned in 2011.