Sunday’s roster features some of weekend’s finest, most exciting sets
By Bill Foster, John Flannagan, Rusty Odom and Matt Rankin
Considering larger crowds, last-minute band cancellations and a few new arrangements, the 10th anniversary of Shaky Knees was smooth as silk.
Sure, there were some things that organizers will certainly tinker with before next year’s installment, but Shaky Knees seems to have officially weathered the COVID hangover. Crews worked around the clock to keep the venue clean and build impressive productions between sets (especially in the case of the headliners), and the crowds were manageable at every stage except Piedmont. (At every festival, it’s always the second-largest spot that presents the most hurdles.) Even still, attendees went home happy and fulfilled, and we were no different. Here are a few of our favorites from the final day of Shaky Knees 2023. – Rusty Odom
The Aquadolls
As if we weren’t already having a great time this weekend at Shaky Knees, along came The Aquadolls’ set at the Criminal Records Stage, which kept that flow going from Friday to Sunday. The three-piece outfit out of Southern California is led by frontwoman Melissa Brooks, who bantered irreverently with the audience throughout the 45-minute set: “If you’re an a-hole, leave,” she remarked at one point. “If you’re not, then hi, how are you doing?!”
The Aquadolls are a guitar-driven garage-pop act who reinvented themselves with a new lineup in 2018 before the recording of their third album, “The Dream and the Deception.” Previously, Brooks had self-produced, written and distributed music largely as a solo project. The group is set to release a new album on June 2, and this show featured a couple of tracks from it, including the excellent “Beach.”
The Aquadolls worked in a cover of The Go-Go’s “Vacation,” which Brooks dedicated to the band’s manager, who she said always told the members that they reminded him of the classic ‘80s girl group. As Brooks instructed midway through the late-afternoon set, “Whatever your slay is, be positive.” It was easy to keep the good vibes going for the rest of our Sunday, and she even heeded her own advice as, post-show, the trio could be seen absolutely losing their minds side-stage at FIDLAR, who closed out Criminal. – John Flannagan
Future Islands
It’s amazing what can be accomplished in an hour by a tight-knit group of folks that is properly motivated. Aside from singer Sam Herring briefly thanking the assemblage for its presence in bearing witness to the band’s first Shaky Knees appearance and making a couple quick quips during the performance, a locked-in Future Islands delivered a 14-song set late Sunday afternoon at Peachtree that was nearly as blistering as the sun’s rays – seen for the first prolonged period of time during this show, which commenced at the hottest point of the weekend.
While his normally stoic bandmates remained as such on the day, the heat didn’t prevent Herring from prowling the stage as per usual; beating his chest; gesturing with his limbs; dramatizing with his facial expressions; and generally serving as a physical conduit for the hopeful affirmations that permeate his songwriting. Although a mighty roar arose from the crowd the first instance he unleashed one of his patented guttural inflections, the raw emotion was balanced by the melodic new-wave anthems crafted by the players onstage. The music was uplifting, the messaging was nourishing and the combined effect was refreshing, reenergizing and came at a time when it was most needed. – Matt Rankin
The Black Angels
Although organizers issued a warning about the looming threat of inclement weather right about the same time The Black Angels were scheduled to perform on Sunday evening, no storms ever materialized around the festival grounds. However, a tempest of sorts still descended upon the modest yet enthusiastic crowd gathered around Ponce once these psych-rock goliaths began playing the opening strains to the title track of last year’s “Wilderness of Mirrors.” Waves of distorted fuzz bass and squalls of reverb-soaked guitar/vocals rolled nonstop over the audience for the duration of a set that drew evenly between newer and older material but never ceased in strength or momentum. Highlights included “Without a Trace,” “You on the Run” and “Empires Falling.” – MR
Father John Misty
Arguably one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend was FJM, whom I had yet to see live. Playing a set that drew heavily from “I Love You, Honeybear” and “Fear Fun,” he did not disappoint, with the revered alternative-folk artist managing to pack 14 songs in his one-hour allotment. Misty is touring behind 2022’s “Chloe and the Next 20th Century” but gave us only the title-ish track (“Chloe”) off that album, instead opting for a festival-friendly setlist, which he joked about to the audience on more than one occasion.
Misty brought out a plethora of musicians to help flesh out his magical vision. There was a horn section and at least eight musicians onstage at various points during the show. If I were to lodge any complaint regarding this show, however, it would be the location. As we have reported before, unfortunately, Piedmont has a penchant for not sounding the best due to heavy lows that tend to overwhelm the mids. Luckily, though, we were able to make our way all the way to the front, which mitigated just enough of the bass to make the show a mainly enjoyable experience.
The masses ate it up regardless, and I also was in a daze after the set, as FJM closed with “Ideal Husband,” a literal and figurative showstopper that ranks high among his best tunes. Misty is known for being something of a moody fellow, but on this gorgeous late Sunday afternoon, he was in tip-top form both musically and emotionally, providing his devoted congregation the sermon of the festival. Afterward, he was spotted rocking out to The Walkmen, which prompted my simple thought that real recognizes real. – JF
FIDLAR
The unofficial mascot of Shaky Knees, Femi aka the pink cowboy hat guy, does not mess around. You’ll find him at the center of every mosh pit in the festival, and the rowdier it is, the better. So, when I saw him early Sunday sporting a FIDLAR t-shirt, I knew that was going to be the place to be. The four-piece from Los Angeles (its name is an acronym for “f*** it dawg, life’s a risk”) has been around for 12 years and a handful of albums and has earned a reputation for its boisterous live shows.
Even by the group’s own lofty standards, though, this Shaky Knees set was something special from FIDLAR. Loud, fast and dangerous, it was everything one would want rock ‘n’ roll to be, with the crowd moshing from the opening note and a continuous string of crowdsurfers causing security to come running from other stages to lend a helping hand. It was my fourth pit of the day, and it was – by a country mile – the most chaotic environment I was in. FIDLAR aren’t reinventing the wheel, but for one hour on Sunday, it was everything I listen to music to hear and feel. – Bill Foster
The Walkmen
Even with The Walkmen being an all-time favorite and me insisting to each of my travel partners for weeks beforehand that they would be thoroughly rewarded for opting for them over The Flaming Lips (“I know it’s crazy, but hear me out …”), this set more than lived up to the hype I had been building for it for both myself and others and alone was worth the trip to Atlanta. That it featured so many of the best songs the group released since the last time I saw it way back in March 2006 and was paced/executed so brilliantly was the cherry on top of an already-delicious sundae.
Given that the band had been on hiatus for the last decade because of the different paths in life each of its members had taken – a fact vocalist Hamilton Leithauser referenced in between tracks – following its last album together, 2012’s “Heaven,” and had performed only a handful of dates thus far on its current reunion tour, the sharpness and ease of this effort was jaw-dropping. From the keyboard tinkles ushering in the blustery whirlwind of “Thinking of a Dream I Had” to those drawing “We’ve Been Had” to a close to end the weekend’s proceedings at Ponce de Leon, the instrumentation was note-perfect. The intensity of Leithauser’s howl on the opener had me worried that he might blow his voice at some point, but it, too, remained superb throughout.
The expanded setup on the west side of the park offered the best sound quality of all of the festival’s four stages, so much so that I could work out lyrics here that on record had left me perplexed. Each element of the music was crystal clear, which heightened the impact of the overall product and made all the little wrinkles – like a slightly different strumming pattern on “In the New Year” and a more bass-heavy mix for “All Hands and the Cook” – that the players folded in stand out that much more.
The performance as a whole was a deeply moving, emotional experience for me personally, but I really kind of lost it during the second bridge of “Four Provinces” when I realized that a song that used to soundtrack pregaming sessions prior to late nights out on the town as a single fella is significant to me now because of its inclusion on the playlist my wife and I curated for our wedding. (And if only I could have aged as gracefully as these dapper gents have since “You & Me” came out …) Despite the worthy opposition they faced in the time slot, The Walkmen deserved a far larger audience than what showed up for this twilight set, but the sparseness resulted in an intimacy rarely experienced during the sold-out weekend. – MR
