Shaky Knees returns to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park this Friday through Sunday for three days of music with a lineup featuring the Strokes, metro Atlanta band Cartel, Twenty One Pilots, Wu-Tang Clan and Gorillaz. Follow along all weekend for live updates, artist performances, interviews and more.
When Jade Long and Jessica Thompson, lead singers of the Athens indie rock quintet Hotel Fiction, discovered they’d be making their performance debut at Atlanta music festival Shaky Knees this year, their response oscillated between totally “freaking out” and hugging each other tightly.
It was a bucket-list moment for the group, which formed in 2019 while they were students at the University of Georgia.
“I went to my first Shaky Knees at 16, and it was a very eye-opening experience where I discovered a lot of my music tastes that really shaped who I am, (especially) seeing that this was something that people can do with their lives,” Long said.
But they soon discovered they were one of only a few female-fronted bands on the extensive lineup. The realization reflects a darker reality for Shaky Knees, which heads into its ninth consecutive year without a female headliner.
Read more about why Shaky Knees and other music festivals have a gender balance issue and what can be done to combat it.
Last year, Conyers pop-punk band Cartel reflected on the legacy of their 2005 album “Chroma.”
They'll take the Shaky Knees stage Friday, one of only two Georgia bands on the lineup this year (the other is Athens group Hotel Fiction).
Get to know the trio, made up of Nic Hudson, Will Pugh and Joseph Pepper, here.
Atlanta music festival Shaky Knees will return for the 14th year Friday-Sunday at Piedmont Park in Midtown. The festival is sold out, but wristbands are still available on verified resale sites.
More than 50 acts will play on fours stages across three days including headliners the Strokes, Twenty One Pilots and Gorillaz. The only two local bands on the lineup are Conyers trio Cartel, performing Friday, and Athens group Hotel Fiction, playing Saturday.
Do you have your schedule set? Let Atlanta Journal-Constitution music writer Matthew W. Smith break it down for you with his 10 acts not to miss, plus information on getting to the festival, bag policy and more.
One thing to note: Jimmy Eat World, who were supposed to perform Saturday, had to back out this week because of frontman Jim Adkins' torn retina. A scheduling update from the Shaky Knees team is expected soon.
As you gear up for this year's festival, take a look back at the fun from last year, including sets from Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, My Chemical Romance, Public Enemy, Wet Leg and Blink-182.