September 2007 - Posts

Sara Cheshire

• Last Lunch on Broad Today

  I apologize for the short notice, but I've suddenly come to realize it is almost October, and many of the outdoor events are coming to a close.  Today from 12-1:30 is the last Lunch on Broad - a free outdoor music concert downtown in the historic Fairlie Poplar District.  Packed mainly with Georgia State students and downtown office employees, the music typically focuses on jazz, R&B, reggae and soft rock.  Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District organizes the event, with extra tables and chairs put out in the street to add ambiance and needed dining space.  An urban experience, choose from a New York deli and pizzeria, "fast-food" thai and chinese, cafe sandwiches, burritos or Mediterranean food.
  
  I appreciate the effort to bring some entertainment options to downtown, though maybe less hit or miss performances would be helpful.  That, and more renewal in weekend activity.  Many of the restaurants on weekends are closed and tourists seem to compose most of the population.  I can't help but wonder if part of it has to do with how much of the original downtown area was torn down, new structures built, interrupting a more thriving and organically designed space.

   Fortunately, the Fairlie Poplar District has been preserved and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  As one of the older and more authentically urban parts of downtown, it includes the largest concentrated collection of commercial and office buildings in Atlanta from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For your trivia night, a scene from the movie  "Love Potion No.9" was also filled in this area (if you look close you can see a MARTA bus in the background - dead give away).  It was also marketed as "Atlanta's new modern fireproof business district"  back in the day.  A little cautious after the Civil War, were we?  Something to think about, and perhaps find amusing, as you stroll the tree-lined streets.
  

  Many people complain about downtown or avoid it, but what would make it a place worth visiting?  What brings people in?  Certainly it must not be MARTA per se, with its six downtown stops.  But if you do decide to go to Lunch on Broad today, that is the way to go.  Exit at the Five Points or Peachtree Center station and maybe do some exploring on your way.
   

  Posted Sep 27 2007, 08:55 PM by saracheshire with no comments

  Filed under: music jazz reggae r&b outdoor history

• When Dave Matthews Band Isn't Enough

   The concept of a "Green Concert" has been a hot end of summer buzz word.  A few weeks ago Piedmont Park hosted the Allman Brothers and Dave Matthews as a massive, and might I add, brilliant, fund-raising effort for continued park rennovations.  Whether because of the $45/person going towards the greenspace or the campaign to get concert goers to take MARTA, bike or walk to the venue, the event got tagged as a "Green Concert".  However, overhearing some conversations when the 50,000 plus crowd was exiting the concert, it seemed that not all people got the "Green Concert" concept.  For them, just another occasion to get plastered.
  
  
  Photo Credit: Frank Mullen.
  

   So now, take two, the Echo Project (in conjunction with Sustainable Waves and Rivers Alive) is going to be giving its shot for the "Green Concert" title.  A three day music and optional camping event October 12-14, the Echo Project is reminiscent of Music Midtown days, but instead of cranking tunes in the 'hood, there's going to be clamoring on the Chattahoochee.  Hosted at a privately-owned farm on the River, the event will feature performances by The Killers, Phil Lesh & Friends and The Flaming Lips, along with numerous other bands.  The Green factor comes into play with the environmental awareness information at the festival along with volunteer opportunities to help clean up the infamous Chattohoochee.  Plus, the whole event itself will be powered by alternative energy. 

   Tickets are a little pricey though.  The three-day package is currently going for $155 and will increase as more tickets are sold.  One and two day tickets are now on sale as of today, but speaking of going for green, you can't just buy a Saturday ticket, only a Saturday/Sunday combination for $135 and Sunday only for $85.  With their top-marketed band The Killers performing Saturday evening, you basically don't pay much less than a    three-day ticket if you want to hear them perform. For a $4 upgrade you can also purchase 500 kWh of renewable energy to offset carbon pollution.
  

  Unfortunately, unlike Piedmont Park, you can't just stand around the outskirts of the venue or perhaps if you are lucky, your Midtown backyard, and hear the show for free.  Environmental clean up and volunteering are available year-round, whether you take part in this event or not.  Hopefully the prices of these festivals don't exclude too many people now or in the future, as some green movements, mostly by cost, have done in the past. 
   

  Posted Sep 24 2007, 05:52 PM by saracheshire with no comments

  Filed under: outdoor, pop, rock, alternative, piedmont park, volunteer, Concerts, music, environmental