Atlanta festival continues to shine, boasts one of year’s best lineups
By John Flannagan and Rusty Odom
It’s that time of year again when thousands of indie and alternative-rock lovers are preparing to descend upon Atlanta’s Central Park for three days of good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. While this year’s installment – the seventh overall – is top-heavy yet again with headliners such as Tame Impala, Beck, Cage the Elephant and Incubus, as always it’s the undercard that has us drooling the most. Looking through all of the names of folks who are performing May 3-5, we have settled on the following list of some of the acts that we’re most excited to see.
Friday, May 3
Friday wins for best all-around day to attend, offering top to bottom a little something for everyone. There’s R&B crooner Curtis Harding, the boogie-rock sounds of Low Cut Connie, retro rockers Tears for Fears and seminal indie rocker Sharon Van Etten on tap for day one. It appears, though, that we’ll be doing a lot of our hanging out on Friday at the Ponce de Leon Stage. -JF
Tash Sultana
A dynamic one-person band replete with prolific guitar chops and extraordinary songwriting abilities, the 23-year-old Sultana is already landing high up on lineup posters and is poised to have a breakout 2019. The phenom plays upwards of 20 instruments including trumpet and saxophone. With only one album under their belt thus far, the Aussie is riding a wave of success from the singles “Jungle” and “Notion,” the latter of which peaked at No. 8 on the Australian music charts. Sultana’s 5:25 p.m. set on the Peachtree Stage will be a can’t-miss on an extremely stacked first day. -JF
Idles
English rockers Idles will bring their raucous stylings to Central Park, playing the Ponce de Leon Stage at 2:55 p.m. in the midst of what probably is the most stacked state of any of the three days. (The stage will see Low Cut Connie, Idles, Black Lips and Oh Sees in rapid succession on Friday afternoon.) Call these guys what you will – except for a punk or post-punk band, as they tend to reject all labels. Idles bring a brutal five-piece attack that includes dual guitars and an infectious raw energy. Their late-night show was one of the first to sell out, so Friday afternoon will be the best time to catch these lads before they really blow up. -JF
Oh Sees
San Francisco psych-rockers Oh Sees (formerly Thee Oh Sees and several other variations of that name) will rock Ponce de Leon at 6:25 on Friday. That is, if there’s anything left of the stage after Idles and Black Lips rip it up before them. Founding member, creative director, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist John Dwyer is extremely prolific, having released more than 20 albums since 2003. And with the release of the hard-rocking “Smote Reverser” last year, he shows no signs of slowing down. -JF
The one constant in Oh Sees has been Dwyer, who has seen the band’s lineup undergo many changes, but he/it manages to keep plugging along nonetheless. Dwyer has always been an open book and unapologetic figure; it’s this attitude that has kept the music strong and that should make for a highly anticipated set at Shaky Knees, which will be the first show of a 43-date world tour. -JF
Saturday, May 4
The midpoint of the weekend may give us some time to recover our collective breath and perhaps catch one of the late shows happening at venues around Hotlanta. At the moment, we’re thinking Black Pistol Fire (who are not on the Shaky Knees bill) with Low Cut Connie. Anyway, after a completely stacked Friday, we may need a bit of a low-key day. Saturday also introduces the first conflicts of the festival, which we will take in stride. -JF
CHON
Brothers Camarena – Mario (guitar), Esiah (bass) and Nathan (drums) – along with friend Erick Hansel (guitar) bring their progressive, structured rock stylings to the Ponce de Leon Stage at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. With a sound that at times evokes the great Battles, CHON is a mainly instrumental outfit from California that formed in 2008 and has released three full lengths and two EPs since 2013. -JF
CHON produces rhythmic patterns with odd time signatures, giving them a quintessential math-rock sound. Their set creates our first major conflict of the festival; they are pitted against Jim James, who surely will command the biggest crowd during that slot. Being the urban overachievers we are, we’re going to do our best to catch both acts during the hour timeframe. -JF
Interpol
One of our favorite bands of all time, these indie darlings set the table for headliners Cage the Elephant on Saturday night at the Peachtree Stage. In spite of our fandom, this will be BLANK’s first time catching Interpol live, and we’re beyond stoked to finally see them. If you’re old enough to have fond memories of the early aughts, then Interpol is your jam. Having come up at the same time with “The” bands like The Strokes, The Hives and The White Stripes, Interpol carved a niche for themselves with a stately post-punk sound that drew comparisons to Joy Division due to frontman Paul Banks’ distinctive baritone voice. -JF
While Interpol has gone through some changes over the years, the core largely remains intact, with Banks, Daniel Kessler (lead guitar) and Sam Fogarino (drums) still carrying the torch. And the group has made a bit of a resurgence as of late, having just last year released “Marauder,” a strong effort which garnered positive reviews. The only unfortunate aspect of this set is that it takes place at the same time as Soccer Mommy, which might lead us to divide and conquer in order to take in both sets. -JF
Soccer Mommy
Nashville’s Sophie Allison has burst onto the scene under stage name Soccer Mommy. Having been signed to Fat Possum, she released her first proper full length, “Clean,” last year to critical acclaim. Since then, she’s toured with acts as diverse as Kacey Musgraves, Foster the People and Liz Phair, to name but a few. Soccer Mommy blends pop with a lo-fi indie sound that’s reminiscent of early ‘90s Phair. Her projection is shooting straight up, as she is working the festival circuit this year; in addition to Shaky Knees, she just played Coachella and has performances lined up at Pitchfork, Primavera and Governor’s Ball. In addition, she’ll be touring with Vampire Weekend in the fall. -JF
Sunday, May 5
The last day of Shaky Knees appears to be fairly spread out with only one major conflict that we can see. (Both Foals and hometown favorites Deerhunter are playing at opposite ends of the park at 6:30 p.m.) Overall, the day starts out strong, with Illiterate Light kicking off the day at noon followed by The Nude Party. Late afternoon has Grouplove and Phosphorescent, and evening brings some folky flavor with Maggie Rogers (replacing Father John Misty) and Tyler Childers performing before headliners Tame Impala close proceedings. -JF
Illiterate Light
Few bands on the lineup have more potential that Illiterate Light. The Virginia-based duo is as unique as it is catchy, with drummer Jake Cochran playing a stand-up-kit while sharing vocal duties with Jeff Gorman. Gorman leads the band with vocal range that stretches into the ethos of My Morning Jacket, Dr. Dog and Band of Horses and he might be one of the most colorful guitar players on the 2019 lineup. He’s also the nephew of Black Crowes’ drummer Steve Gorman, so he’s been around the music business his whole life. The new EP, Sweet Beast, is great on record and even better live. The band’s version of Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues” might be the coolest cover we’ve heard live in the last year. Catch them at the Peachtree stage, bright and early on Sunday morning from 12:00-12:30pm. It will be worth it. -Rusty Odom
The Nude Party
Retro-sounding North Carolinian rockers The Nude Party play an early afternoon set on Sunday, which should do little to quash their enthusiasm and raw energy. Now based in New York City, the band did, in fact, get its name from its members performing in their birthday suits onstage during their time at Appalachian State University. Ultimately, the bold move gave them the swagger and confidence to explore the kind of music that came to define the decadent decade that was the 1970s. Embodying the Stones of that era with grooves and riffs galore, this gang of barely 20-somethings released their self-titled debut last summer and have enjoyed a meteoric rise ever since, garnering attention on alternative radio and earning slots on festival bills this year. -JF
Slothrust
Even at this stage in its still-nascent career, there’s not much Slothrust doesn’t do well, whether it be the infectious hooks on “Double Down,” thoughtful, well-crafted lyrical ballads such as “Horseshoe” or rocking covers like the rousing rendition of the Turtles; “Happy Together.” The band is the brainchild of frontwoman Leah Wellbaum, who leads this traditional yet ferocious three-piece. I was able to catch a show of theirs last month in San Francisco, where they delivered a powerful 16-song set that included a rowdy cover of Marcy Playground’s hit “Sex and Candy.” If you’re unable to make it to the Ponce de Leon Stage at Shaky Knees on Sunday afternoon, you’ll be able to catch them on the same weekend in Knoxville; they will be playing at the Concourse that Friday in what will be the final show sponsored by WNFZ before the station changes its format. But what a way to go out! -JF
Weekend and single-day passes are on sale now at https://www.shakykneesfestival.com/
