Music Midtown, Atlanta’s 25-year-old music festival, returned for another year of outstanding performances by a variety of different types of artists. 

The music festival originally beginning in 1994 to give Atlanta a huge concert festival event similar to the New Orleans Jazz and Music Festival. This long weekend of concerts has continued to be a very well-liked event bringing over 100,000 people.

Music Midtown always gives a variety of artists that differ from year to year, and normally no artist will play more than once. This year, they made an exception by bringing back Billie Eilish for the second year in a row, probably because of how well her performance went in 2018. 

Billie Eilish delivered an absolutely phenomenal performance in 2018, but I hate to say it, this year her performance was disappointing. Eilish had some sound problems that may have contributed to the lack of energy and connection in her performance since no one could really hear her. She has an amazing voice and is incredibly talented, so I wish she could have delivered a better performance this year.

Despite this, there were many other great performances over the weekend.

I have been patiently waiting to see Quinn XCII live since I heard “Another Day in Paradise” in the eighth grade. All the anticipation of seeing him proved to be worth it when out of every artist I have seen live, I can hands-down say this was the best performance. 

Quinn has continued to amaze me over the past couple of years with his two albums, “The Story of Us” and “From Michigan With Love.” His work on these albums was absolutely amazing, and having the opportunity to see these songs that have touched my heart be delivered live and even better than the recorded versions. 

He brought a certain type of energy to the crowd and continued to thank everyone for being there, saying how thankful he is for the success of his music. He not only hyped up his fans who were there to see them but all the people there who might have never heard a song of his. Honestly, there were people there to see other performers that are not him, and Quinn still found a way to connect with those people. 

The opening song was “Sad Still,” which is off his most recent album, “From Michigan With Love.” This is a song about his personal struggles with mental illness. Even though this is a favorite of mine off of this album, I feel he could have picked a better song that is known to more people like “FFYL.” 

His last two songs were the most flawlessly picked songs he could have possibly chosen.

“Another Day in Paradise” was released in 2015 off of his album “Change of Scenery.” This song is most definitely in the top three of the best songs Quinn has ever released. He picked this song as second to last, which was a good choice because the song is on the slower side and may not have been the best to end with, but it deserved the “best for last” sort of ending that the song received. 

“Flare Guns” was the perfect ending to such a stellar performance. This song, featuring Chelsea Cutler, is a “go out with a bang” type of song. This song deserved be played last because it is not only fast-paced, but it is one of his most popular songs. “Flare Guns” proved the last song played should be something the whole crowd could sing along to. 

MØ is another performer that made her first Music Midtown appearance this year, and it was also proved to be memorable. The Danish singer has three hit songs, two of which are collaborations with two major artists, Snakehips and Major Lazor. 

Her two bigger hits, “Lean on” and “Don’t Leave,” were her final two songs. Even though the majority of the concert were songs I did not know, I still had a good time. She has a certain presence about her that just brought my overall mood up and despite being in the direct sun at four in the afternoon, her concert was one of the best all weekend. 

In the middle of her act, she came down into the crowd during a song and just walked and danced with the middle of the crowd while singing. This just shows the amount of confidence MØ performs with. MØ’s finishing song “Don’t Leave” was incredible and was a great ending to her performance overall.

Dominic Fike also brought a stellar performance to the table on Sunday afternoon. The Florida artist, best known for his song “3 Nights,” delivered a performance that was nothing short of excellence. 

Fike opened with another one of his hit songs, “Phone Numbers,” which completely hyped up the crowd for the rest of his act and compelled people not to leave. Then after a few of his lesser known songs, Fike played another hit called “She Wants My Money.” 

After about six songs Fike finally played his showstopper, “3 Nights.” This was possibly one of the most energetic songs played all weekend because “3 Nights” is a very popular song. He finished off his performance with two more energetic songs, “King of Everything” and “Westcoast Collective.” Both were easy to dance and listen to. 

Other wonderful performances from the weekend were made by Lil Yachty and WALK THE MOON, and Madison Beer.