Music Midtown

So one of MC's favorite bands is Coldplay. I have been checking their site periodically, and it seems like they are always playing in Germany or South Africa or some other place nowhere near us. The last time I checked, they actually had some domestic venues, including Atlanta! They were scheduled to play at Music Midtown, which is a music festival that hasn't happened in a few years and was coming back for the first time. So I decided that would be a great early birthday present for my sweetie! Since it was one day and started in the afternoon, we decided to just leave early Saturday morning.  We checked in to the hotel and got ready to head to the shows. [caption id="attachment_616" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="View from the hotel"][/caption]

Since the lady at the front desk said it would be up to $15 for cab fare and it was just over 2 miles away, I convinced MC to just walk so we moseyed over to Piedmont Park just in time for the second band, The Constellations, to start. They put on an awesome show, and we knew it was going to be a good day! There were two stages set up, and we found a great shady spot since we got there pretty early.

[caption id="attachment_617" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Luckily we found a place where we could enjoy both stages"][/caption] The acts alternated between the stages and after The Constellations came Walk The Moon.  We really enjoyed their set as well. Unfortunately, the next few bands were really our taste, but I still had fun relaxing with my sweetie and drinking some Sweetwater :-) The crowd started picking up as the day progressed until the field started really filling before the Black Keys. [caption id="attachment_618" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Getting pretty jammed!"][/caption] The Black Keys were one of the only other bands in the lineup that I was familiar with, so I was pretty excited to see them play.  They definitely didn't disappoint! [caption id="attachment_619" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="I have no idea about the random stuff on stage with them"][/caption] We had watched as the crowd moseyed back and forth between stages, but that happened a little less this time.  Cage the Elephant got a little screwed in that respect because a lot of folks wanted to stay by the main stage so they could keep their place for Coldplay.  We just enjoyed each other's company and, before long, it was time for the big show! [caption id="attachment_620" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Yellow!"][/caption] As was to be expected, they put on a frickin' awesome show!  MC really enjoyed the setlist and they had some pretty entertaining theatrics. [caption id="attachment_621" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="No need to bring a beach ball to this concert"][/caption] They also did a cool tribute to REM (who recently broke up) with a cover of Everybody Hurts, which was pretty awesome.  It was a great show and the love of my life finally got to see Coldplay!  After a bit of walking, then a cab ride, we had no problems crashing at the hotel after a long, but awesome, day. Sunday we got up and met with my friend Heather (whom I hadn't seen in forever) and her beau Levan.  We met at Ria's Bluebird Cafe, which, once we finally got seated, was extremely good.  It was great catching up with Heather and talking with Levan! After we finished, we bid them farewell and stopped by IKEA (you pretty much HAVE to when you are that close) then hit the road back to Tallahassee.  It was a quick, but awesome, trip and I was glad that we finally got my sweetie to see one of her favorite bands.  Happy Birthday my love!