On a typical evening walking down the streets of Five Points in Atlanta, Georgia, it is usual to see street vendors, the homeless walking around with their usual business, a man playing the harmonica like his life depends on it and travelers from all over rushing to catch the next available train/bus to their destination. Last Friday, August 26, Five Points looked a little bit different than its usual face. On this day, sponsors provided entertainment for all who cared to witness for the debut art extravaganza called Elevate, an art and music event hosted in the middle of Five Points where passersby could participate if they wanted to. There was much to be entertained with as there was an art demonstration that took place as well as a grand performance by Atlanta’s own party band Noot D’ Noot. With all of the festivities and excitement going on, the more interesting perspective of the night was the mix of people that came together to enjoy this exciting event.
As I exited the Five Points train station, I could already tell there was something different about the blustering environment. There was a noise that I’ve never heard before and I found myself slowly gravitating towards it. As the noise got louder, I found myself in the middle of something that I had never seen on the streets of Five Points in my entire 25 years of living in Atlanta. On the top steps towards the entrance of the Five Points station were a group of people dressed in white, anti-bacterial suits standing in front of a raggedly dressed woman rolling around on a black exercise ball with a red ball attached to it by a thin string. The group of people simply watched the woman as she rolled down the stairs and finally stopped at the bottom of the stairs. One member of the group broke away from the rest and approached the woman, pretending to spray her with a sort of anti-bacterial spray. The rest of the group followed and soon the one who broke away wrapped “caution” tape around the group and they began to surround the woman. They soon backed away and allowed the woman to roll to another direction where they again, began to follow her. Onlookers of this demonstration were quite perplexed as to what was going on yet nothing stopped them from pulling out their camera and video devices to make a memory of the event. As the demonstrators left the area, the music died down and the night continued.
I began to walk around to explore what else was going on in this peculiar night and ran into some good friends of mine. The streets were filled with newer vendors selling food and beverages and there were also other art demonstrations going on as well. Atlanta’s well known artist Fahamu Pecou was one of the artists who was hosting a demonstration were people could walk up to what looked like a tree stump and attach random objects to it to create a colorful mix. There was also an artist who created a bicycle out of copper and exhibited that to the audience. Atlanta’s own non profit group, Wonder Root had their own part in the event where the provided chalk for anyone interested in making their mark on the streets of Five Points. My new friend Starletta and I took the liberty to do a couple of drawings and I did my usual “peace sign.” With all the things going on, there was a lot to keep your attention going, but the climax of the night was yet to come.
There was a loud thump in the distance that could only come from a drum kit followed by the blare of a saxophone which could only mean that Atlanta’s popular party band Noot D’ Noot was ready to get the party started. Before they began to play, their mc Dookie Platters urged the crowd to move closer to the stage just before Karima Harrison aka Electro Siren began to sing as they prepared to rock the house down. As the party began, it was just a few people in the audience, but as the night went on, everyone within earshot of the music came over to join the party. As I took a moment between taking footage, I couldn’t help but notice the blend of people that were in the audience. Everyone from all walks of life including black, white and even the local homeless people were all dancing together as if they were the ones hosting the party. It was all laughs and awkward dancing as Noot D’ Noot performed some of their popular songs including “Know That Feeling” and “Fingers Like Steeples.” They even opened up their set with a new song called “Noot Baby” which got the crowd into the set. The night was also the debut of Noot D’ Noot’s new guitarist Ben Coleman aka Kid Pyramid who partied out to the songs as if he had been apart of the band all along. The party died down after an hour of jamming to the tunes of Noot D’ Noot where they ended with a grand finish.
What the sponsors of Elevate have done for Atlanta on that very night had not been seen at least from my eyes in a long time if ever. There’s nothing like having an unexpected good time on the very streets that you walk on a daily basis and the ride was a fun one to be apart of. It’s a great thing if you can bring different people together to enjoy a similar event that all find enjoyment in. Since this was the first successful installment of the event, I’m sure there are many more to come so look out on your local Atlanta newsletters for more on this event.
