Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
I got a late start on Sunday due to being out late with the Spiritualized show Saturday night (worth it), so Frank Turner was my first show of Sunday. From my view, his brand of sing and dance along revelry was the best way to jump start the lethargic beginning to my final day at Shaky Knees. I was very right about that. Turner brings a show that you can’t help but have fun at. You may not know the words, but you can pick up the chorus quickly enough to be part of the roar from the crowd. If he tells you to get down on one knee, you do it unless you’re the one guy he playfully called out for not going along with everyone else. At the end of the show, I definitely felt more ready to face the day.
Diamond Rugs
This slot was one of my more difficult choices of the festival. I really enjoy Dr Dog, but I had never seen Diamond Rugs before. Turns out I made the correct choice as they announced at the beginning of the set that Shaky Knees would be their last show for a while (and maybe ever). This news should not be shocking as the band is a side project for all the members of the band. Like Turner, they know how to entertain and make the audience have a good time. With a set of dirty rock songs, they are one of the acts that I think of when I try to come up with the identity that Shaky Knees is putting forth for their lineups. A fitting homage took place when the members of the band brought out thiers wives and children for Mother’s Day. It’s been ages since I’ve seen a band have this much fun on stage.
Panda Bear
Much like John Grant on Friday, Panda Bear was one of the acts that sticks out from the lineup as one that seems different from the rest. One man on stage with zero guitars to be found was a rarity this weekend, but he drew a crowd that was much bigger than I expected, proving that the festival’s crowd is able to step outside of what genres predominate the weekend. The visual aspect of his show fit perfectly with the music he made, and his vocals were a step above some of the recent live videos I had watched before leaving for the festival. Unfortunately, Panda Bear is evening music and, unlike Viet Cong on Saturday, he was never quite able to make you forget that the sun was out in full force, and that detracted from an otherwise wonderful set.
Ryan Adams
There are few people in music who have seemingly made as drastic as a personality shift in the last few years. Gone is the off putting and sometimes erratic on stage behavior. The Ryan Adams of the present is an artist who finally appears to outwardly be enjoying making music. He makes jokes. He plays songs people have been wanting to hear, including bringing “To Be Young” back into the live rotation after years of it not being played. Another set highlight was him covering Danzig’s “Mother” in honor of Mother’s Day before admitting that, in hindsight, the song was probably not the best choice for the day. Coming in, I had high hopes for the show, and Adams easily earned himself a spot in my Top 5 for the weekend. If you get a chance to catch Adams on the current tour, go for it. You may have seen him before, but never like this.
Tame Impala
Sunday’s headliner was one of the more talked about choices going into the festival. Would they be able to pull off headlining this level of festival in the US? The answer was a resounding yes. For me, they were the best headlining set of the weekend by a large margin which I felt was quite a feat considering the level of competition. The older songs sounded great. The songs off their upcoming release all came off much better live than I had anticipated. I feel bad for anyone who skipped out early as they missed out on what could be the start of much bigger things for these guys. Kudos to Shaky Knees for being the first to elevate them to a higher status in the US.
Top 5:
Chris Lewis‘ Top 5
1. Viet Cong
2. Ryan Adams
3. METZ
4. FIDLAR
5. Mastodon
Honorable mentions:
Spiritualized (I didn’t want to count it in the
top five since it was a separate show), John Grant, Noel Gallagher,
Wavves, TV On The Radio
Rusty Odom’s Top 6
1. Tame Impala
2. Kevin Devine
3. The Strokes
4. Diamond Rugs
5. Ride
6. Ryan Adams
Random Thoughts:
Food Trucks: I hate to harp on it, but it was the most consistent complaint I heard all weekend. Almost everyone I spoke to about it had an issue with the food situation. I appreciate what the festival is trying to do with delivering a higher quality product from small vendors, but it’s just not meeting the needs the attendees.
All Star Vendors: Fox Brothers BBQ is a good example of a kind of vendor Shaky Knees could use to help their food problem. It’s fast service, local and really tasty. Also, I would be ashamed if I left off King Of Pops. I can think of few things more refreshing than one of their amazing popsicles on a hot, sunny day.
The staff: I had really excellent interactions with staff all weekend. The volunteers were polite and attentive. The professional staff was also top notch. Call it cheesy, but I felt good having the staff greet me coming in every day and tell me goodbye every night. Many experiences are based off small touches and that was a great one. And the Mason Jar Media crew always ensures that the attending media have what they need and more. I briefly got to run in to Shaky Knees creator Tim Sweetwood, a mountain of a man who would be the perfect center in a three on three basketball tournament, and mention how impressed I was with the festival. He was sincerely appreciative of the comment and it made me want to root for both he and this festival even more.
The crowd: The crowd was also amazing. I didn’t see anyone causing a ruckus all weekend. I was consistently apologized to if someone so much as grazed me coming through a crowd. Most importantly, they were generally really into the shows which always makes a festival experience that much better. With this festival being carved so precisely, fans were of one accord.
The feature: During one of the shows, I believe it was Diamond Rugs, one of the musicians on stage mentioned that he never understood why festivals don’t have people walking through the crowd selling beer like they do at major sporting events. Little did he know that vendors at Shaky Knees had done just that all weekend (though they hadn’t yet done that at this show, so it’s understandable that he made mention of it). You’re thirsty but you don’t want to miss the next song? No big deal, just look for the dude and raise your hand. It’s simply the smartest thing that a festival can do. In fact, there were so many places to get beer that I never waited in line all weekend. This is something that other fests could learn from and it seems easy to implement a detail that greatly improves the setting of an outdoor event.
The future: Programs for this year had the dates for next year’s festival. Given the quality of all the lineups so far, this festival is getting marked down as a must attend, and with some minor tweaks, the festival has hopefully finally found its home in Central Park.
