Tag Archive for: shaky knees

SHAKY KNEES 2024 DAY 3 – THE DOWNPOUR

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 5/6/24

If you have never seen a rock show in the rain, you’re missing out. Today was all about one of John’s favorite bands, Dinosaur Jr.  

First off, we caught a newer band we had not heard of until the festival, Arcy Drive. They are out of New York with a mash-up of varieties of sounds like indie, 90s fast slow, two-step, and singsong talking and singing mix. Not all at the same time, for example one song would be songs that are softer almost ballad-like that erupt into heavy guitar for the chorus. Then, the next song would be a rock song with more of a southern twang and have some two-step influence. I enjoyed lead singer Nick Mateyunas’ voice, it is smooth yet gritty. The one we really like is called Wicked Styley, which is the one they started with. It is a fun upbeat rock song with lots of 90’s influence and reverb. 

The Downpour. About 5 minutes before Dinosaur Jr. went on the Ponce De Leon stage, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour started and lasted for almost the entire set. People were caught in the rain, and it was so much that even us with ponchos got pretty soaked. Especially our feet in ankle deep water near the front of the stage flowing into the crowd. No one seemed to mind too much and it actually electrified the audience. John quipped at one point, “it’s like we’re back in the 90’s.” And he was right, the energy from the crowd was noticeably high! They even broke out into mosh pits and a sea of crowd surfers dotted the front. It was a sight to behold! Plus, the music had a lot to do with the mood! If you don’t know Dinosaur Jr, they are what I call hard skate rock. Something I imagine skaters on their boards would listen to in their ear buds. Songs like Feel the Pain and Over It are melodious with heavy guitar and just plain fun. Plus, the covered The Cure, “Just Like Heaven.” It was a great show. 

After our Dinosaur Jr. experience, we headed back over to see Billy Idol and found the main stage to be a mud bog. People without shoes dancing in the sprinkles, drenched friends with smiles on their faces. We saw him back in 2015 during Music Midtown and his show has always been top notch! Billy Idol is always a good time singing greats like White Wedding, Rebel Yell, and Cradle of Love that anyone will sing and dance with. Visually, he had some fun LED graphics and seems to have not aged a bit and still sounds really good live! He even took his Billy Idol shirt off and threw it in the crowd.  

I’m just going to come right out and say it, we left before Foo Fighters. We’d seen them before, and the weather had made the main stage too muddy. Plus, we had stood in ankle high water for an hour, so our feet were wet, and we had a long weekend. We will catch them next time.  

Did you have a favorite Shaky moment? 

SHAKY KNEES 2024 DAY 2

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 5/5/24

Photo Dusana Risovic

With bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Offspring, Queens of the Stone Age, and one of my favorites of all time Weezer. Day 2 had it all. Here’s a short recap. 

Starting with the newer bands, we heard both Microwave and Dead Poets Society. Microwave is out of Atlanta, which I didn’t know, and has a variety of sounds from loud, hard rock to 90’s fast slow, and then some punk. The other was Dead Poet’s Society out of Boston that had hard riffs that reminded me of Rob/White Zombie up front, thrash, but then the vocals come in softer and higher for a fun mix of sounds. I like that Jack Underkofler, the lead singer, fell into the crowd and crowd surfed while singing one of the first songs.  

On to the 90’s bands we love, first we actually had to miss Offspring because we had never seen Sunny Day Real Estate and we’re going to spend time with a band that we hadn’t seen. We love Offspring, I saw them back in 1994 and heard they did an incredible show. That brings us to Sunny Day Real Estate. They are one of those 90’s bands that I just got introduced to by a friend a few years ago and we started watching their videos on YouTube. I call them the quintessential fast slow early 90’s band. Melodious verses and vocals erupt into a barrage of heavy guitar and pounding drums, Sunny Day Real Estate satisfies song after song. Tour t-shirt purchased! More to come in our review. 

Have you ever found yourself driving too fast on the interstate? You might have been listening to Queens of the Stone Age. What I call fast driving music, Queens of the Stone Age are very drum forward with deep and heavy beats, beautiful guitar riffs and Josh Homme’s great voice. Plus, they visually never disappoint, this year with roaming light show. Last time we saw them they had a large video board with led visuals that really went well with the music. Did you know Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) also did the drums on “No One Knows?” which you can tell by the drums! But my favorite of their songs after last night is “Go with the flow.” I always liked it but realized it is more diverse musically than some of the others.  

My boyfriend back in 1994 gave me a non-descript bright blue album as a present. Little did I know that that album would be in my top 5 all-time records, and Weezer would cement themselves into rock god status in my life. I’ve seen Weezer over the years from them playing large festivals to arenas to a small stage at the Braves stadium and they always sound perfect. What I call garage or college rock, Weezer has a distinct sound that no one else can create and that sets them apart from some of the other 90’s bands, don’t get me wrong, I love most early 90’s bands! The underlying hum of the guitars, explosions of rock juxtaposing the smoothness or River’s voice, it all comes together completely. What I love about them live is they really play up the guitar and show their musical prowess, plus, visually, they always have their W front and center. If you’ve never seen them live, you must; it is an experience.  

We didn’t make it to liquid death’s activation, it is on our to do list for today. We’re excited about Dinosaur Jr, Billy Idol, and Foo Fighters today. It’s going to be hot, so wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water. 

SHAKY KNEES 2024 DAY 1

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 5/4/24

Photo by Roger Ho.

With acts like Weezer and Foo Fighters, this year’s Shaky Knees spoke to my Gen X heart. Here’s our day one recap with our favorite new bands, artist moments, and everything in between.

Something we’re highlighting this Shaky Knees beyond the stout 90’s band line-up are the new bands that we catch. The first one is Ax and the Hatchetmen, a young indie 7-piece out of Chicago with tons of energetic big band, funky, rocky, and beachy all rolled into one fun time. A great show! They had a wonderful artist moment, handing out water with a QR code to their newest song, “Flagstaff” that they performed live and came out yesterday! Another band that we hadn’t seen is and enjoyed is Late Night Drive Home out of Texas. The lead singer, Andre Patillo, came out with a red mak on that had frills at the bottom. They’re a blend of punk, rock, 90s with swelling choruses. We loved they sang Blur, “Song No. 2.”

Our favorite of the bands we know is Metric out of Canada. A band that played on 99x back in the day, and that I know probably 5 songs from was thoroughly enjoyable. Emily Haines, the lead singer, came out in a bright red shinny body suit. If you know Metric, they are heavy into electronic and keyboard, yet rock and 80s infused. Reminiscent of Garbage to me, “Help I’m Alive,” was the highlight for me. I hadn’t heard it live and it was my favorite of their music then and now.

We also caught Interpol and Arcade Fire, two bands I had not seen live. Arcade Fire puts on a spectacle of a show with tons of light and movement, and loved the horizon and sunset/sunrise visuals of the performance. Interpol had black and white on the big screens, they’re very controled yet upbeat rock and smooth lyrics all encased in a European rock sound.

It wouldn’t be a large music festival without festival polls, our favorite was the blown up stick of butter. Plus, we were blown away by the Doordash food court with some great Atlanta and regional restaurants like Hattie Bs. Today we are going to explore the most elaborate activation I’ve ever seen, Liquid Death. We will report back.

Who is ready for day 2? John and I are super excited for Sunny Day Real Estate today! We hope the Thunderstorms stay away.

This is just a snapshot of day 1. A full article and review of bands to come.