Eminem, Jack White to headline Music Midtown

This is Peter Conlon’s philosophy on Music Midtown: “We try to find acts that aren’t playing anywhere. I don’t want someone who is on every festival bill in the country. We don’t want to be cookie-cutter.”

Sure, Jack White played Bonnaroo this month. But the other three headliners for the 2014 edition of the Atlanta festival — Eminem, John Mayer and, representing the home team, Zac Brown Band — will give Music Midtown a different vibe than some of its counterparts.

Eminem, whom Conlon, president of Live Nation Atlanta, started courting last year, hasn’t played Atlanta since 2002. And, while ZBB recently packed Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood, they’ll take the stage right after another Georgia icon, Gregg Allman, so expect some crossover action between them.

This year’s Music Midtown — the fourth since the fest returned after a six-year break — will set up at Atlanta’s Piedmont Park Sept. 19-20.

Along with the heavy-hitting headliners and Allman, fans can also experience the sounds of: Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Iggy Azalea, Bastille, Run-D.M.C., Fitz and the Tantrums, Twenty One Pilots, NeedtoBreathe, B.o.B., Mayer Hawthorne, AER, the Strypes, Banks, Sleeper Agent, Magic Man, Bear Hands and Ron Pope.

While the setup will remain similar to last year's with three stages, the recently added Oak Hill stage will be moved to the top of the hill and enlarged to accommodate a headliner (two will perform simultaneously each night) with video screens to augment the setting.

Last week at his rock ‘n’ roll-chic office at Live Nation’s Atlanta headquarters in Buckhead, a laid-back Conlon chatted about some of the changes planned for the 2014 edition of the festival he co-founded 20 years ago.

There won’t be single-day tickets this year, only a two-day pass for $125 (last year’s two-day price was $110). They’ll go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday via the usual Ticketmaster outlets. Fans with deeper pockets can opt for the $500 VIP or $1,000 Super VIP options, as well as the newly added $30,000 cabanas (no surprise that they are in limited supply).

“We just decided it as a convenience thing,” Conlon said of the two-day-only ticket option. “It’s still a great price for this lineup.”

Also new this year: more bathrooms; a new location for the artist market and the VIP area; covered entry walkways and increased entrance points (the four from last year will be “greatly expanded,” Conlon said, and a fifth will be added).

Food trucks will continue to supply a variety of vittles, while those in the VIP/Super VIP accommodations will benefit from the culinary expertise of some well-known chefs.

As for the landscape issues that emerged last year after a day of rain turned the meadow into a mudslide stuffed with nearly 60,000 people, Conlon said Live Nation spent "in the six figures" within a two-week period after the festival to remediate the park.

“We had crews on it (that) Monday morning,” he said, adding that about $80,000 in sod and mulch was placed on the grounds and about $300,000 spent on flooring, which will also be increased this year.

But new entrances and grass aren’t the only shifts that apply to the festival.

When Conlon first revived Music Midtown in 2011, he owned September.

Last year, TomorrowWorld, the massive EDM festival imported from Belgium, commandeered acres of farmland in Chattahoochee Hills the weekend after Music Midtown and will return in the same slot.

Also competing for fans' dollars this year is the sold-out trio of Outkast concerts that will reign at Centennial Olympic Park Sept. 26-28 — the exact same days as TomorrowWorld and a week removed from Music Midtown.

Conlon admits that he was “surprised” by the group’s multiple sell-outs at the park, but then shrugs and smiles. “And good for them.”

He’s equally sanguine about any perceived competition.

“TomorrowWorld and Outkast going head-to-head will have more impact. We’re going to do what we’re going to do. You see our lineup. That appeals to a lot of people. I’m not concerned about it,” Conlon said. “If this ticket doesn’t sell, we’re all in a lot of trouble because this is a great lineup.”