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Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Fri Jan 9

The College Football Playoff heads to Atlanta with a high-stakes semifinal matchup between Indiana and Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Expect a postseason atmosphere with a heavy Indiana presence in the stands. Early ticket data suggests significantly more Hoosiers fans are traveling, which should translate into a sea of red at kickoff. From a value perspective, the Oregon sideline is currently about 20% less expensive than the Indiana sideline, making it the smarter buy if youʼre flexible on seating and want to be in the building for the night.

Indiana Sideline picture below.

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Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Expected)

BTS has officially confirmed details of their upcoming world tour. Dates and venues will be announced on January 13 at 10 am EST. Although dates have not been announced, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is widely expected to be the Atlanta stop, based on prior tour routing and capacity needs. If history is any guide, demand will surge once dates are released, especially for floor and lower-bowl sections.

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The phrase “Dirty Southˮ didnʼt start as a polished genre label. It came out of Atlantaʼs mid-'90s rap ecosystem as artists started naming their own regional identity in real time. Goodie Mobʼs debut album, Soul Food, includes the track “Dirty South,ˮ and the song is widely credited with popularizing the phrase beyond local usage and into broader hip-hop language. Several accounts also credit Cool Breeze (a fellow Dungeon Family member) with the earliest use of the term. Either way, the Atlanta circle helped codify the idea at a time when rapʼs mainstream narrative still leaned heavily coastal. Once the term had a name people could repeat, it became a banner not just for Atlanta, but for Southern scenes that followed.

In Atlanta, the opener often ends up being the most revealing part of the night. In many Atlanta shows, especially in the mid-size venue tier, openers benefit from audiences that arrive early enough to give the room real energy. That early presence changes the dynamic for support acts. Instead of playing to a distracted or half-filled space, openers can find themselves performing for crowds that are already settled in, watching, and ready to react. When an opener connects, the shift is immediate.

That reaction matters because Atlanta operates as a major hub within the Southeast touring circuit. Managers, agents, label staff, and promoters pass through the city frequently, and live response here carries weight. A strong Atlanta opening set doesnʼt just warm up the crowd; it often functions like a live audition. The feedback loop is fast and tangible. When an opener clearly moves the room, that impression tends to travel, informing future recommendations, support slots, and routing decisions.

Thereʼs also a distinct layer of local credibility at play. Atlanta has a long history of artists growing in public, moving from smaller rooms into support slots and eventually into headlining nights. When an opener has Atlanta roots, the crowd often treats them less like a stranger and more like a shared investment. That hometown energy creates pressure, but it also creates lift. A strong set feels like a collective win, and that momentum can extend well beyond a single show.

Promoters notice these moments more than fans realize. They pay attention to which openers keep people in the room, which ones raise the overall energy of the night, and which performances make a show feel bigger. The opener slot becomes a quiet sorting mechanism, distinguishing artists who can hold a room from those who are still finding their footing.

For fans, this makes Atlanta one of the best cities to catch artists before they level up. The opener window is where talent is most visible, rooms are still intimate, and careers are still undecided. In a city that values live performance as proof, the first 30 minutes often tell you more about where the scene is headed than the name on the marquee.

Heading to a show at The Eastern? Make the Atlanta Dairies/Reynoldstown stretch your pre-show base. Start with dinner at Muchacho at 904 Memorial Dr SE, then head to Three Taverns Imaginarium inside Atlanta Dairies at 777 Memorial Dr SE (Suite B103) for a quick pre-show beer before you walk over.