Decatur's reworked downtown square is about to get its first concert weekend. Rough Draft Atlanta reports that the Amplify Decatur Music Festival returns June 4-7 with the headline event landing on the brand-new permanent stage that the City of Decatur built as part of its Decatur Square transformation. The Saturday night ticketed show, billed as "A Decade of Music on the Square," runs from 3 to 11 p.m. and marks the festival's 10-year anniversary.
The Saturday lineup leans heavily on Americana. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings headline, with Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood, Louisiana singer-songwriter Dylan LeBlanc, Nashville's Kyshona, and Georgia Mountain Stringband filling out the bill. Saturday also includes a silent auction and pop-up performances at restaurants around the Square.
Friday night is the bigger civic moment. The free June 7 concert on the new stage pairs Tom Petty cover band Canyonland with Atlanta singer-songwriter Michelle Malone, and it is the first public event the city is putting on this stage. "Everyone with the City is thrilled to introduce our new stage to the people of Decatur as a place where art and music lovers can gather, listen, and share communal experiences," Decatur city manager Andrea Arnold said in the Rough Draft piece. The festival opens Thursday June 4 with Penny and Sparrow and Eliot Bronson at the Avon Theater in Avondale Estates before moving to the Square for the weekend. For more on Decatur's evolving downtown, our Decatur neighborhood guide covers the Square and the surrounding restaurant scene.
