The three-day Shaky Knees music festival kicked off at noon Friday, and though pop-up showers were predicted for the afternoon, they didn’t pop up at Shaky Knees as the temperatures rose into the 80s.
Despite high temperatures throughout the day, the crowd at Shaky Knees never seemed to miss an opportunity to sing along with their favorite artists. While fans on the first day of the festival were met with clear skies, storms threaten to creep in over the weekend.
On site, Alexander Brown was set up by the Ponce de Leon stage in the early hours of the festival on Friday, making sure that concertgoers are registered to vote as a volunteer for Headcount, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Brown said they will be registering voters rain or shine.
Credit: Riley Bunch
Credit: Riley Bunch
“If you don’t like the weather here in Georgia, just wait 30 minutes,” he joked, referring to the potential rain in the weekend forecast. Brown was looking forward to listening to All Them Witches later Friday evening, after the booth closed.
Credit: Phoebe Quinton
Credit: Phoebe Quinton
Some fans traveled from other states to be here. Christina Wilsey flew in yesterday morning from Tampa, Florida, to spend one day at the festival. She hopes to miss the stormy weather forecast for this weekend, but is not worried about rain.
“I’m so happy to be here,” she said. “I’ve never been to Atlanta before, so this is a nice introduction. I’m really excited to just be here at Shaky Knees.”
Credit: Phoebe Quinton
Credit: Phoebe Quinton
She was looking forward to performances from Young the Giant and Friday’s headliner, Noah Kahan.
Credit: Riley Bunch
Credit: Riley Bunch
Concertgoers seemed to gain energy as the sun went down, when colorful lights from the stages lit up the thousands of fans spread throughout Central Park. As crowds flowed between stages, excitement only grew for the night’s headliner, Noah Kahan, whose songs have gone viral across social media, causing the singer to skyrocket to fame in recent years.
Each day of the festival will begin with performances by Songs for Kids, starting just before noon. The headliners on Saturday are Weezer and Queens of the Stone Age. The Foo Fighters will close out the festival on Sunday night. Check out our preview of the festival for more highlights.
Credit: Riley Bunch
Credit: Riley Bunch
Here are some highlights from Friday’s lineup of performers:
LINKA MOJA
Linka Moja stormed the stage in a dark ‘70′s-style jean ensemble. She electrified the early afternoon crowd with a mix of original songs and covers, including her singles “Redline,” “Blood Orange” and “Unravel Me.”
The crowd sang along in a call-and-response chant to a cover of No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.” They also danced along to her performance of “Black Sheep” by Metric (who will be performing later in the afternoon), commonly known as the song Brie Larson sings in the movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” As her passionate performance wrapped up, she closed her set with a cover of “Kiwi” by Harry Styles and restarted the first note of the song.
“This one’s gotta be good,” she said.
- Phoebe Quinton
AX AND THE HATCHETMEN
Chicago-based alt-indie band Ax and the Hatchetmen stunned the crowd at the Piedmont Stage at 1:30 p.m. with countless riffs from the group’s two guitarists and bassist.
Composed of six musicians, the band includes a trumpet player, a saxophonist and drummer in addition to three up front, one of which is the lead singer Axel Ellis. The weather cleared up revealing a sunny blue sky.
“We’re so happy to be here at Shaky Knees today. It’s a beautiful lovely day,” said Ellis.
Credit: Phoebe Quinton
Credit: Phoebe Quinton
The band debuted their new song “Flagstaff,” which was released on streaming services today. With strong hints of jazz, pop and California surf rock, their music created a lighthearted and breezy atmosphere. Fans danced along to some of the band’s newest releases. “Where tf Did I Park My Car” and “Stay.” Members from the band also danced around and even rolled across the stage at the end of their energetic performance.
In a post-performance interview, Ax and the Hatchetmen said they had to overcome some pre-concert nerves.
”We did a little breathe in, breathe out,” said guitarist Sal Defilippis. “We were like ‘my tummy hurts but I know that if I breathe it’ll go away,’ and then it did.”
Even a few hours after their performance, singer Axel Ellis said he’s still calming down. “Still a little adrenaline rush,” said Ellis. “I’m just ready to see music.”
The group is excited for Young the Giant and Arcade Fire, both playing later Friday, and the Foo Fighters, who will headline on Sunday.
- Phoebe Quinton
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
ODIE LEIGH
After a bet with her roommates over who could write a viral song, Odie Leigh rose to fame on TikTok during the pandemic with the song “Fine By Me” receiving more 50K views instantly.
At Shaky Knees, she captivated the audience with her strikingly honest lyrics and lilting melodies. Her neon green and red shorts matched her red cowboy boots and the neon green streaks in her hair.
Leigh sang a number of original songs, including “No Doubt” and “Ronnie’s Song.” During her new release “Conversation Starter,” she invited fans to scream along. After Shaky Knees, she also plans to perform at Kilby Black Party, a festival in Salt Lake City.
- Phoebe Quinton
Credit: Riley Bunch
Credit: Riley Bunch
DEL WATER GAP
As temperatures hit 85 degrees in the late afternoon, New York singer Samuel Holden Jaffe, known as Del Water Gap, had to shed his leather jacket, proclaiming to the audience: “Baby, it’s hot!”
The artist took Shaky Knees attendees through a tour of his love life with top hits like “Better Than I Know Myself,” “All We Do is Talk” and “Doll House.”
”Last time I was here I went through a breakup the day of my show and I was crying like a little baby on stage,” he told the crowd as he started his set.
The high-energy performance even included a quick jump into the crowd to sing “Perfume” with superfans lining the barricade. The set ended with arguably the singer’s most popular song, 2020′s “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat,” which has racked up more than 106 million plays on Spotify.
- Riley Bunch
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
LATE NIGHT DRIVE HOME
The blistering heat did not dampen Late Night Drive Home’s energy on stage. The band noted they are used to heat, coming from a small town outside of El Paso, Texas.
Their 45-minute performance packed a punch, with a driving drum beat and strong electric guitars throughout the set. Lead singer Andre Portillo started singing with his face fully covered in a gray and red hood and sunglasses. When he removed it after their first song “Believe Me (Even If I’m Lying),” the crowd roared.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
The band played their biggest hit, “Stress Relief,” towards the end of their set. Accumulating over 100 million streams across all platforms, the song helped build the group’s online following.
Other notable songs included “Star Love” and an interactive rendition of “Euphoria” where the crowd crouched down on the ground and jumped up in sync with the band.
- Phoebe Quinton
YOUNG THE GIANT
As the sun set over the Atlanta skyline, thousands of voices sang out the opening lines of the hit song “Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant. The chorus echoed throughout the park after the lead singer, Sameer Gadhia, urged concertgoers to sing along.
”We’ve got a lot more for you,” the singer told the crowd afterward.
Most of the Shaky Knees attendees had Young The Giant on their must-see list or at least it seemed that way as the crowd was so large that they spilled down the hill from the Piedmont stage.
Despite being formed in Irvine, California, the popular indie rock band represents a unique blend of cultures and backgrounds. Gadhia, who is of Indian descent, explores the first-generation immigrant experience through the band’s lyrics.
Young the Giant got started in 2004, but it wasn’t until 2010 that the band hit mainstream airwaves with the popular songs “My Body” and “Cough Syrup” off its self-titled album.
The crowd kept up the energy throughout the entire performance, singing along to favorites like “Mind Over Matter” and “Superposition.”
- Riley Bunch
ARCADE FIRE
The sun had fully gone down by the time Arcade Fire graced the Piedmont stage, letting the disco ball suspended above bands all day finally cast the colors of the flashing lights across the crowd.
“Atlanta it’s so [expletive] good to see you!” lead singer Win Butler proclaimed after the audience led the background vocals of their opening song “Rebellion (Lies).”
Frontwoman Régine Chassagne’s vinyl trench coat also caught the disco-themed lights as she sang “Reflektor” — one of the bands more electronic tunes — while beach balls were batted around the audience.
The Canadian indie rock band that climbed in popularity during the early 2000s may be best known for its hit song, “The Suburbs,” in which the band sings about the lives of a rag-tag group of bored teenagers passing time in the empty parking lots of their hometown.
Butler, now seated at the piano, opened the song by calling back to his childhood in Houston, which he described as a place with endless highways.
“Playing at Shaky Knees with my best friends,” he improvised before the final bars of “The Suburbs.” The album of the same name shook the music world when it won album of the year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, beating out chart-topping artists like Lady Antebellum, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Eminem.
- Riley Bunch
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
NOAH KAHAN
It seemed the only person who was surprised to see Noah Kahan secure the headlining spot at Shaky Knees on Friday night was Noah Kahan himself.
”I can’t believe I’m here,” he repeated during his set. “I just want you to know I’m not going to take it for granted.”
Just five years have passed since Noah Kahan released his debut album — which included his first hit single, “Hurt Somebody” — and the 27-year-old from Vermont has already found himself as a headliner at one Atlanta’s biggest music festivals.
His sold-out “Stick Season Tour” came to the Peachtree stage at Central Park as he capped the day’s packed line-up of indie rock artists.
The 2023 best new artist Grammy nominee opened with “Dial Drunk” — a track that features rapper and singer Post Malone.
”It’s so good to be here man,” he said following the song. “I’m so honored to be headlining tonight.”
”My goal is to leave you a little more depressed than you came here today,” he joked, as the lyrics in many of his songs pull on heartstrings.
On Friday night in Atlanta, thousands of fans screamed out the line ”You once called me forever and now you still can’t call me back” from “Stick Season.”
”Can the lights show me all the crowd?” he asked the stage crew who lit up the audience and his eyes got big. “Oh my lord.”
Kahan released “Stick Season” in 2022, which went viral on the popular social media app TikTok and hit the Top 10 in the U.S. and No. 1 in the UK. Since then, his fame has only increased and brought with it collaborations with top artists like Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, Hozier and Zach Bryan.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Anticipation brewed all day for the young singer-songwriter’s performance, many noting even hours before his set what songs they hoped he’d play.
Shaky Knees will be Thomas Fitzpatrick’s sixth time seeing Noah Kahan live. ”He’s so talented and such a funny guy,” Fitzpatrick said on Friday. “I played ‘Stick Season’ as soon as the album dropped and I listened to it all night.”
Kahan is also an advocate for mental health and donates a portion of every ticket sold from his tour to his own initiative, The Busyhead Project, which gives out funds to organizations that offer mental health resources.
Before he played “Growing Sideways,” he talked about his experience going to therapy when he was just 8 years old and noted that May is Mental Heath Awareness month. ”I think even the happiest person in the world should go to therapy. It saved my life,” he said.
- Riley Bunch
The AJC will be at Shaky Knees all weekend, bringing you performance highlights, news and voices from inside the festival. Come back for photos, reviews and more all weekend long.
Shaky Knees Festival
The fest continues May 4-5. Central Park, entrance at 395 Piedmont Ave. One-day ticket options available, starting at $165. (Three-day tickets are sold out.) Gates open at 11:30 a.m. with music starting at 11:45 each day, ending at 11 p.m. May 4 and 10 p.m. May 5. For tickets, full schedule and other information: shakykneesfestival.com.
