Friday, July 30, 2010
Music news De La Soul, Common & Goapele headline ONE Musicfest this Saturday, all day
Posted by Chad Radford on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Earlier this month, a panel of Atlanta music tastemakers, promoters and journalists — including myself — assembled at King Plow Arts Center for a press conference regarding ONE Musicfest., the latest edition to the city’s legacy of large-scale, urban music events. The conference turned into a roundtable discussion about how music can, and should, bridge the gap between black and white music fans in Atlanta. After all, the OMF tag line reads “unity through music.” Sol Fusion promoter Jason Carter hatched the idea for the festival — which happens Saturday, July 31 at King Plow — after being taken aback by the mixed crowd that came out to see De La Soul at the Masquerade in August 2009.
“It was damn near a 50/50 split,” Carter recalls. “You don’t see a lot of that in Atlanta, so I thought okay, how do we take this to the next level?”
Promoting racial harmony through a one-day music fest is a lofty enterprise.
I can’t think of any other Atlanta music festival that has made such a goal part of their platform.
Aside from the defunct Music Midtown, most festivals in town have typically served a certain demographic, such as Corndogorama (indie rock) or the Atlanta Indie Music Fest (emerging hip-hop). For the most part, ONE Musicfest follows suit. But while it caters to urban music, the lineup is still somewhat diverse in that it features a variety of hip-hop, soul, funk, go-go and an eclectic mix of DJs.
It’s too early to say if this is truly next-level, but Carter and fellow OMF co-founders Robert Shaw and Christian Ruffin have already received a Phoenix Award from the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
The 10-hour, indoor/outdoor fest features performances from De La Soul, Common, Goapele, Mick Boogie and dozens of other acts and local DJs, spread out over two stages. Video games, jousting, ping-pong, miniature golf, and graffiti art installations are all lined up as well. “The whole thing is like a giant-ass Chucky Cheese for adults — with music,” Carter adds. Hit up ONE Musicfest for more details.
$40-$75. 1 p.m. (doors). King Plow Arts Center, 887 W Marietta St. 404-885-9933. Tickets are available at Moods Music, Centerstage and Marco's Pita.
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