Atlanta’s Music Midtown Has Been Canceled

so fricking stupid

Heard it had very poor ticket sales... this sounds like someone gave them an easy way out.

Shaky Knees will probably have to find a new venue though.

Here is a synopsis of the sequence of events that led to the cancelation of Music Midtown, and is threatening Shaky Knees and any other events on public property in Georgia:
-In 2014, Phillip Evans (Phil_E_54-99 on Reddit, profile now scrubbed) was kicked out of the Atlanta Botanical Garden for open carrying a handgun
-Phillip Evans sued, claiming his rights under OCGA § 16-11-127 were violated
-The law in question permits individuals to carry weapons onto public property (with certain exceptions, including courthouses)
-The Atlanta Botanical Garden is located on property owned by the City of Atlanta, and is therefore on public property
-The case bounced through the court system, including up to the Supreme Court of Georgia, multiple times over the subsequent 8 years
-The core question in the case was "whether the specific lease in question creates an estate for years or a usufruct", which in simpler terms means whether the Atlanta Botanical Garden's lease with the City of Atlanta created a condition whereby the Atlanta Botanical Garden essentially operates as private property pursuant to OCGA § 16-11-27 (c)
-In 2022, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided that the Atlanta Botanical Garden's lease with the City of Atlanta did create an "estate for years", meaning the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in essence operates as private property, therefore allowing the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to regulate firearms under OCGA § 16-11-127
-The decision favoring the Atlanta Botanical Gardens largely (but not entirely) hinged on the long term (50 year) nature of the lease with the City of Atlanta
-While a long term lease over public land does not guarantee "an estate for years", it is almost assuredly a necessary condition, per the court decision
-Therefore, under the court's decision, the logical and likely legally correct assumption is that organizations with short term leases over public land, such as Music Midtown or Shaky Knees, would not be able to create "an estate for years", meaning their events would be considered to be held on public property, and these organizations would therefore be unable to regulate firearms at their events
-Organizations are still allowed to regulate firearms on fully private property, but the rumor is that Music Midtown did not have enough time to find an alternative venue
-One more note--the individual who sued the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (Phillip Evans) has indicated he may sue other venues on public property such as Cadence Bank Amphitheatre (which is within Chastain Park)
-Rulings in such future cases, even if the venues/organizations have long term leases over the public property, may turn out differently, as establishing "an estate for years" is more complex than simply showing a long term lease, and also hinges on a variety of other factors
-You can read the entire Court of Appeals of Georgia ruling here: casetext.com/case/georgiacarryorg-v-the-atlanta-botanical-garden-inc

Like I said it’s highly unlikely this is the reason especially given MCR is on the lineup and they been selling out like crazy everywhere else.

From the Festival Owl’s Twitter

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Seeing many comments alleging @MusicMidtown is using cancellation as a cover up for bad tix sales — I always acknowledge poor sales for any event, but that is not the case here. Festival was selling very well especially around My Chemical Romance's first ATL date in 10+ years.

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Not sure why you're getting downvoted, the timing doesn't make sense at all on this, at minimum the ruling is 2-3 years old and the issue is like 8 years old.

Guns in crowds, great idea!!

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MCR

Ugh!! Am I the only person who finds this crap extremely annoying?

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When I thought that you were talking about Emo bands, I was gonna agree. Abbreviations of band names don't bother me much.

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Ugh!! Am I the only person who finds this crap extremely annoying?

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No, but I don’t find the acronym annoying in this particular instance. My Chemical Romance has used that abbreviation on a lot of their own releases, and it’s a lot shorter than their actual name.

Also, you’re showing your age (either super young or super old) if you don’t know who MCR is. They were one of the most culturally relevant rock bands of the last 20 years before they took a hiatus, only to reunite right before the pandemic hit. “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance is pretty much this generation’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Stairway to Heaven”.

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Why can't the event just prevent guns in the actual show where they take tickets and not the park?

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Georgia law states that a private event cannot ban guns at their event if it’s on public land like a park. Shaky and 420fest didn’t run into this problem because they weren’t being sued now that this douche is starting to sue festivals like Midtown it’s likely that Shaky and 420fest will have to relocate if they still want to take place next year

Seems like this law overrides that and common sense. Guess we’ll see what happens in the future with fests like Shaky and 420fest