We are now entering the time of year where festival flyers begin to jump hot off the press as our bank accounts are still trying to recover from the holidays. Even though it may seem that is it year-round, we are now approaching “festival season” and Shaky Knees is the perfect festival to kick start your summer. Set in downtown Atlanta’s Central Park, you will be immersed in music and sun with a view of the ATL high rises up above you. Shaky Knees heads back to Atlanta May 3rd-5th and you can access tickets to the festival here. Although the line up is totally stacked, here’s my top five sets of this can’t miss festival.
Electric Guest is a Los Angeles based electronic band that formed back in 2011. The four piece band had a rather quiet 2018 after a very exciting 2017 which saw the release of their sophomore album Plural and a massive tour to follow. The band has announced they will be playing many shows this year and we are lucky enough to have them at Shaky Knees. Electric Guest is no stranger to the funk and they’ll have you moving “Back & Forth“.
The Nude Party went from jamming in their Lake House basement to jamming in front of festival crowds as big as Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits. The sextet has a very soulful, 1960s era psychedelic rock sound and it is so money, baby. The Nude Party released their first full length album in 2018, they toured across the pond in 2018 as well as a North American tour following the release of their album. Cure the thirst you’ve built up for The Nude Party with some “Water on Mars“.
Caamp is a trio from Athens, Ohio. Taylor Meier started playing in local coffee shops back in 2013 before recruiting childhood friend, Evan Westfall. A few 12-packs of light beer and a few jam sessions later, Caamp was up and running. After the independent release of their first album they added the third to the trio with the addition of Matt Vinson. Since the release of their album in 2016 they have released a handful of singles and played an even bigger handful of shows and festivals. To get a glimpse of what to expect from Caamp at Shaky Knees check out their full set live from Bunbury Music Festival back in 2017.
The UK Natives, Foals, were formed in 2005 and have achieved global success having released four fantastic albums on Warner Brother Records. Considered as one of the top live rock acts in the UK, Foals should be on everyone’s must see list this may at Shaky Knees. Front-man Yannis Philippakis is notorious for his onstage antics as he will crowd surf and even jump off balconies when they are conveniently located. I can say from experience that if you are a music lover who enjoys listening through the entire discography of bands that Foals is definitely one to add to your list. You can really hear the progression of the band as a whole and you can still hear the Foals we began to love on Antidotes on their most recent album What Went Down.
Japanese Breakfast began as Michelle Zauner was taking a one month break from her indie group Little Big League. During this month break, Zauner challenged herself to write a song-a-day and quickly realized her potential as a solo artist. She continued writing as Japanese Breakfast while writing for her band but Japanese Breakfast and lo-fi indie were really starting to gain pace. 2016 saw the first Japanese Breakfast album released and Psychopomp brought much deserved attention. The Japanese Breakfast sophomore album, Soft Sounds from Another Planet, was a bit more on the lo-fi experimental side of indie but brought some fantastic reviews and comments. The success of this album allowed Japanese Breakfast the chance to head out on a string of what feels like continuous touring with plenty of sold out shows.
