Another sunny day rose over Atlanta’s Piedmont Park with the promise of another incredible day of music ahead at Shaky Knees Festival. With the likes of Blood Orange, Taking Back Sunday, The Prodigy and Twenty One Pilots slated to take the stages(s), fans made a run for various barricades to catch their favorites up close. Sadly, most of this was not to be but Atlas headed out into the storm to catch as many acts as possible- check out some memorable moments from Saturday!
Alt Rock Captures Attention
The hottest part of the day had the Georgia sun beating down on a crowd eagerly assembled for Geordie Greep at the (criminally) underrated Criminal Records Stage. Fans trekked across the park for the former Black Midi frontman and he was as enigmatic and mesmerizing as ever. The band’s cult following has remained devoted after the band dissolved and the audience clinging to the barricade wore similar expressions of shellshocked joy. Greep kept his offbeat persona alive, playing a long instrumental intro with his back firmly to the crowd before whipping around to properly start the set. Fans flung themselves over the barricade and ignored the oppressive humidity for some of the most memorable minutes of the day.
A journey back across the field found Minus the Bear squinting into the late afternoon brightness as those waiting patiently for The Prodigy cheered them on. There were plenty of proper fans in the crowd, nodding thoughtfully to “The Game Needed Me” and “Drilling”. Towards the back of the pit, attendees sat attentively as they sought shade and relief from the heat with the soothing sounds from the band.
Summer Storms Shut Down Shaky
Blood Orange emerged to raucous applause, but singer Dev Hynes only made it through three songs before intense lightning forced a pause and then a complete stop of the festival. Black clouds rolled over the park and torrential downpour prompted an expeditious evacuation of Piedmont, with fans getting soaked as they spilled onto the streets of Atlanta. Over two hours of uncertainty had many people headed for the shelter of their hotels, while hopeful Pierce the Veil and Twenty One Pilots fans made their stand just outside the park waiting for a potential all clear.
Twenty One Pilots Rally for Buoyant Finish
Sadly, fans of PTV, Pavement and The Prodigy did not get their wishes to see these acts, with a multiple-hour shutdown causing an insurmountable delay and eventual cancellation of several bands. Once the lightning had passed, gates were reopened and those camped along the gates once again rushed the barricade with a promise the Twenty One Pilots would be performing an abbreviated set to close out the second day of the fest.
With only an hour to cram as many songs into their set as possible, Tyler Joseph vaulted over his piano while Josh Dun bashed away at his kit to kick off an adrenaline-filled performance with “Overcompensate” and “The Contract”. Joseph hopped onto a platform supported by the fans for this second song, swinging his illuminated microphone high in the air before removing his mask with a grin for “Center Mass”. Many fans were in tears on the barricade, filled with visible emotion at this opportunity to see at least one of their favorites that night. The duo’s chosen setlist ran headlong into some of the most energetic songs in their catalog, including the heart-pounding “Heavydirtysoul” and put the spotlight on Dun during “Drum Show”.
The band still made the set about the fans, with Joseph once again jumping into the crowd during “Rawfear” before their shortened playlist concluded with an awe-inspiring firework show at the conclusion of “Trees”. While nature certainly caused some heartache on Saturday night, Shaky Knees made the best of the unavoidable delay to close out night two on the best note possible.
