Update – We hope everyone is having a good time in ATL. The hotel is super nice. Big thanks to Michael Roland Magno for coming to the bar last night and spending some time with us after his show! Tears for Fears are scheduled to go on around 8:25p Eastern Standard Time tonight at the Piedmont- Ford Sponsored stage. The show’s audio will be live-streamed according to Shaky Knees. Most of the fans we spoke to plan to be in VIP. So, we’re focusing on that experience. Be sure to read this before you go. If you’re doing the Platinum experience – reach out to Andye on Twitter @andyeisthenews because she has the day’s schedule created by Shaky Knees including the lunch and dinner info plus the notes on the private performance by Liz Phair – all of which is in the festival email that should have reached you.
There will be fast track entrances for VIP Platinum. The merch table is not far from the Ford Sponsored Stage. Getting inside might be an ordeal so please just be patient and give yourself enough time to get there. If you’re local to Atlanta, please do not try to go to work today if you can avoid it. Just come over and hang out!! Don’t wait til the last minute and try to run over!
…and yes, this time the band is playing a venue in the heart of Atlanta. It’s not Duluth this time, it’s Atlanta. Shaky Knees Music Festival is a pretty big deal in ATL. Atlanta is a festival city, it’s always on and poppin’ so expect some intense crowds. Get there early and read all the fine print. The wristbands can’t be transferred. It’s 3 days long but one-day tickets are available. All hotels will be booked solid and rates will be high so get in now! Can’t stress this enough, if you are flying in, you MUST book your hotel in advance. You, of course, do not have to pay for it right now, you just need to hold your space by not selecting advance payment. The reservation now will lock in your rate. As you get closer to the festival date, these rates may not be as friendly.
Our suggested hotel is the Hyatt Regency Centric Midtown. This hotel is one of the closest 4-star hotels. Others are Marriott, Hyatt Regency and The W as well. Current price is around $200 a night at the Hyatt Centric for festival dates. That may change if you wait and book at a later date. The park is the equivalent of Central Park in New York, only much much smaller…but not that small.
No fancy cute clothes, we suggested full on soldiers of sound Doc Martens, Curt Smith Tour Couture, super snazzy t-shirt with some comfy jeans and a secure bag within regulation of the festivals’ bag laws (oh yeah, there are bag laws) and enough money to enjoy the deliciousness that is ATL. We have some serious restaurants here. We’re saying “we” because this is where MANY serious long time Tears fans live. We have what we like to call the Travel Fan HQA near the second place that Tears played back in 2010 (Chastain Amphitheatre, now State Bank Chastain Amphitheatre). The second is in Los Angeles. The mothership HQ is in Bath …at Kath’s house. But we digress…
Let’s get down to cash chat… Tickets
Regular Gen Am started out around $179+tax, fees, etc. VIP Tier one is now $595, tier 2 is $1600+. Is it worth it? If you’re flying in and going for just one day, just get the general admission. If you plan to stay all three days and you’re not concerned about front row or being close to the stage, get the general admission. If you can’t handle crowds and you need a seat, you may want to invest in the Tiers that the festival provides. (Andye currently has one extra VIP ticket available for less than market rate – it’s Tier 1 and can be mailed to you in April). Connect with us on the Travel Fan site or tweet her at @andyeisthenews to get the details (and they are swweeeeet deets!)
Meet and Greet – we had a venue next to the festival itself already on standby, a catering crew, ridiculously tight security booked, etc. to name a few things. Henceforth, a plan was in place just in case the band/band member(s) could actually be present. But all bookings for such things seem tough given their tight schedule. They’ll be in Florida shortly after the show most likely. Meet and greets at the venue itself with the band are not orchestrated by us unless requested by higher authorities. For travel fan meetups, carpools and general ATL questions, send us an email via Facebook. You will get a response. *Update, if you’re in Tier1 or Tier2 there will be fans walking around.
As a whole, Atlanta festivals are pretty clean. This isn’t going to be a repeat of Woodstock 2 with mud pits from the rain, etc. Kids will be there. A ton of security will be there. Most of this area is most likely under heavy surveillance like downtown ATL where there are cameras everywhere. It’s super hard to get away with anything in this town. It’s family friendly and there are lots of rules so be sure to read the fine print as mentioned. Study the map so you can better understand where to pick up your wristband. Please see this map:
If you want to make a long holiday of this, please reach out to us on Facebook and we’ll happily give you the best advice we have on ATL, this is one city we know extremely well. We’ll eventually do a video to go over everything, perhaps an FB Live or Periscope. Again, do not delay the hotel bookings if you’re flying in. We usually say get the ticket first and let everything else fall into place. However, the hotel booking, in this case, may be more important than the ticket just because this is a conference and festival city, hotels are always booked in May. Book now to avoid delays!
Past Shaky Knees Festivals
Join in other discussions about the festival here.
Summary:
Shaky Knees Festival Friday Night features Tears for Fears
Stage Time: (be there by 7:45pm Eastern please) – go to the Piedmont Stage (sponsored by Ford)
Admission: $179-$1600 plus taxes and fees (Remember Andye has an extra VIP ticket for less than the full cost – she’d prefer a true fellow fan to get it).
Hotel Suggestion: Hyatt Centric Midtown $200 a night average, 4 star hotel near venue
Airfare: Fly with Delta, the metro/subway/train will take you straight to the hotels that are next to the venue. But we suggest Uber or a car service.
Food: There are over 450 restaurants in Atlanta alone, 50% of them are in this area. You will not starve. Use Yelp to help you pick the cuisine you love the most. Or use the Postmates app and have it delivered to you. The hotel has pretty good food too, slightly pricey but worth it.
FAQs
Will there be a TFF merch table? – There is a section where you can buy merch. It is not within the VIP tent.
Is this the only show in the USA 2019? – No, they’ll be in Florida on the 5th at Sun Fest
Will we get to hear the new tracks at the show? – TBD
How many songs will be played? – TBD
As always, follow that band! You can find them online at…
http://www.tearsforfears.com
@curtsmith and @tearsforfears on Twitter
Curt on Facebook
Tears for Fears on Instagram
In Addition – for fan-focused fun and info:
Tears for Fears Travel Fans on Facebook
Tears for Fears Travel Fans on Twitter
Tears for Fears Travel Fans on Instagram
Tears for Fears Travel Fans 