One Music Fest 2018

This weekend was The One Music Fest held in Atlanta, GA. This year the music festival was at Central Park in Downtown and the music festival is now divided into two days. I only attended the first day (Saturday) of the festival. I got to the venue late afternoon to see singers H.E.R. and Miguel and rappers Big Sean and Nas. These artists were at two different stages in the park. For example one artist may be performing at 6pm and another artist at 7pm at another stage in the park.

I enjoyed all the artists however there were some sound and technical difficulties. Some artists sets were delayed and some artists were at different stages and the times to see them overlapped. For instance in the middle of singer Miguel’s performance the rapper Nas was beginning his set on another stage in another area of the park and you could see the crowd leaving in the middle of an artist performance to go hear the other artists music. Despite those issues the diverse eclectic millennial crowd seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

Miguel is an amazing live singer, and performed hit slangs such as “Adorn” and “Sure Thing”. H.E.R. also did great and she performed her hits “Best Part” and “Focus”. Big Sean performed many of his hit singles and features such as “IDFWU”, “Blessings”, “Bounce Back”, and “Big Bank”. Nas also performed songs like “I Can”, “Hate Me Now” and “Oochie Wally”. During the concert sets most people stood up or had blankets or yoga mats sitting down on the lawn because there were no seats this year. Each artist had about a forty minute set on stage.

This is the kind of outdoor concert where you should dress comfortable and not wear stilettos. Prepare to sweat, stay hydrated, walk, and be in large crowds. The park had food trucks, bars,and water stations, but the lines were super long. I took Uber to the venue because there was very very limited parking. I’ve been to a lot of concerts, but this outdoor festival in the park had a different energy. There seemed to have been more people this year, but a lot of the musical artists who were originally on the line up pulled out of the show last minute. Cardi B, Jeezy, and Brandy were suppose to be performing, but were replaced with other artists such as Monica, 2 Chainz, Big Boi, and T.I. who are scheduled to perform on the Sunday show.

This was my third year going to One Music Fest and I must say I liked it better when it was at Lakewood Amphitheater where there was reserved seating as well as a lawn area. The old venue seem to have been more organized and had more space. Maybe from a business perspective Central Park could’ve been cheaper. I’m not really sure, but it made for a beautiful backdrop of the downtown Atlanta skyline at night. It should be interesting to see if it’s at the park in 2019.

To know more about the annual concert, see pictures, and how to purchase tickets check out http://www.onemusicfest.com or follow the hashtag #OMF2018 on social media.