Atlanta’s Music Midtown festival canceled — Georgia gun law blamed

J. Kim Murphy Virginia Patton Moss, a former actress who was the final surviving adult cast member of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” died on Aug. 18 in Albany, Ga.

While it's still too early to get the lights out and start putting on the Christmas films - and definitely too hot to get out the fluffy socks and blankets - now is the perfect time to make sure you've got all of your festive celebrations sorted.

The show must go on…until it simply cannot.

Rod Stewart shared a heart-warming tribute to Motown legend Lamont Dozier who tragically died aged 81.

Ellise Shafer Flannel Nation, a ’90s alt-rock festival set for Los Angeles this weekend, has been canceled by organizers after several bands, including Everclear and Candle Box, dropped out of the event.The fest’s lineup was originally headlined by Sugar Ray, and included Everclear, Candle Box, Soul Asylum, Filter, Cracker, Fastball, Sponge, Star Zero and X Wire. However, on Tuesday, Sugar Ray and Candle Box both pulled out of the fest.

which prompted the recent cancellation of the Atlanta festival Music Midtown, has now said that he wishes to “challenge” the live music promoter’s firearms ban inside its Georgia venues.The annual festival, which had been due to welcome the likes of My Chemical Romance, Jack White and Future from September 17-18, cancelled its 2022 edition earlier this month “due to circumstances beyond our control”.Billboard subsequently reported that recent changes to Georgia’s gun laws, which prevented Music Midtown’s owner Live Nation from banning festivalgoers from bringing guns on to the publicly owned festival grounds at Piedmont Park, were “the likely cause” for the cancellation.In a new interview with Billboard, Georgia IT worker, author and vocal gun rights activist Phillip Evans recalled how, in the weeks before the cancellation, he warned a contractor hired to handle security at Music Midtown that “should any member of your security team accost a legal carrier of weapons … [then] your company (and any involved individual) could be sued for damages”.“I urge you to honour and follow our state weapons law here in Georgia,” he added.A post shared by Music Midtown (@musicmidtown)Evans has now told Billboard that he never pushed for Music Midtown’s cancellation, and that he didn’t expect Live Nation to pull the plug on the event.“There’s nothing in my blog, in my opinion, that indicates I celebrated the decision,” he added. “I would’ve actually been thrilled had Live Nation gone ahead and had the event and said that they were following state law.”Describing himself as a “hardcore music fan” who “loves all kind of music from all eras”, Evans says that he wants Live Nation to “abide by a law”.

At the start of the month, the Atlanta-based festival Music Midtown announced it would not be going forward in September. A reason for the cancellation was not given, though Billboard reported that Georgia's gun laws, which would have permitted firearms to be brought onto the festival grounds, led to organizers nixing the show. In a new interview with Billboard, Phillip Evans, the gun activist and blogger who threatened the lawsuit against Music Midtown, says he wants to "challenge" Live Nation's weapons policy banning guns inside Georgia amphitheaters.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Melissa Leo and Antonio Banderas have joined the cast of “Clean-Up Crew,” an action-comedy from Yale Entertainment.Directed by Jon Keeyes, “Clean-Up Crew” focuses on a crime scene clean-up team that discovers a cash-filled briefcase at a crime sight. The discovery pits them into battle with a crime boss, hitman and corrupt government agents searching for the cash.

Music industry veteran Robert Gibbs has joined UTA as a Partner and Co-Head of the agency’s Atlanta office.

Home sweet home! Tarek El Moussa returned from his trip to Mexico, and pregnant Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) couldn’t be more excited to have her husband back under the same roof.

Killer Mike and 2 Chainz have criticised a recently introduced nuisance ordinance in Atlanta that they claim is penalising small and Black-owned businesses in the city.The rappers, both Atlanta natives, attended a city council meeting on Monday (August 1) to call for the preservation of small businesses. The father of rapper Young Thug, Jeffrey Williams Sr., was also there and argued that the ordinance’s “catch-all approach” of trying to reduce violence in proximity to clubs and establishments “penalises uninvolved parties”.In April, Mayor Andre Dickens introduced the nuisance order which aims to allow the city to close any establishment considered a “nuisance” after two reports of “violent crime or conduct” within a two-year span.

Heather Rae El Moussa is lying low and putting her health first. The pregnant 34-year-old star was noticeably absent from a group photo of husband Tarek El Moussa's family trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico this week. In the caption, Tarek wrote that his entire family and children were «having a blast,» but noted, «Just missing @heatherraeyoung like crazy but doctor's orders come first!!» Heather replied in the comments, writing: «Miss my family and love you so much baby.» A post shared by Tarek El Moussa (@therealtarekelmoussa)Tarek and Heather are currently expecting their first child together, a baby boy, due in 2023. This will be the first child for Heather, and the third for Tarek, who shares Taylor and Brayden with his ex-wife, Christina Hall. While Heather has been open about undergoing IVF and her pregnancy journey, just last week, the reality TV star revealed that despite doing IVF, she ultimately ended up getting pregnant naturally.In an Instagram post, she opened up about taking the time to slow down and truly nurture her body during pregnancy. «I've always been a healthy person but I'm also ambitious so I love the busy busy go-go-go lifestyle,» she wrote.

Doing what’s best for her health. Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) is being very careful to stay healthy throughout her pregnancy — even if it means missing out on vacation in Cabo, Mexico.

Mock The Week has been cancelled after 17 years on the BBC.Presenter and comedian Dara O’Briain confirmed the news today (August 2), joking that the UK “has finally run out of news”.“The storylines were getting crazier and crazier – global pandemics, divorce from Europe, novelty short-term prime ministers,” he said in a statement. “It couldn’t go on.“And so, regretfully, we are closing the doors on Dara and Hugh’s Academy for Baby Comedians.”He continued: “We just couldn’t be more silly than the news was already.

The Music Midtown Festival will no longer take place this September, according to a statement posted on Monday by the event's organizers. The message only alluded to "circumstances beyond our control" for the cancellation, but a Billboard report claims the "likely cause" is Georgia's gun laws, which make it illegal for Music Midtown to bar attendees from bringing guns onto publically owned land like the festival grounds of Piedmont Park.

Jack White, Future, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy headlining.Today (August 1), Live Nation announced that the festival was cancelled, stating that “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year. We were looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”The statement added: “Refunds will be processed automatically within the next 24 hours to the original method of payment.

Wilson Chapman editor“To Kill A Mockingbird,” Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s beloved coming-of-age novel, will not return to Broadway as previously announced, The New York Times reported.A spokesperson for the production declined to comment on the cancellation to Variety.The stage play, which opened on Broadway in 2018, played its final performance at the Shubert Theatre on Jan. 16.