Sunday was the third and final day of the Shaky Beats‘ third year and they had a killer lineup all ready to close it out. Saturday and Sunday were scorchers in terms of music and the sun, the fields were a little dusty which only added to the vibe with the smoke pouring from the stages and mixing with the dust that the crowd kicked up during Sunday’s sets.
Corey Von Waters
Kicking it off on the main stage was Corey Von Waters from Atlanta, with a chill house music vibe that got the early crowd’s blood moving in the midday sun.
Midnite Panda
One of the great thing about festivals is the amount of acts that you get to see for the first time without any expectations, well I checked my expectations at the door when I went to see Midnite Panda’s set on the Ponce De Leon stage just as the hype-man, er, hype-panda hit the stage to get the crowd going. Not only did Atlanta’s own DJ Midnite Panda get the people moving he also made them tacos on stage.
Ofenbach
All the way from Paris, France we caught a fun set of upbeat house tunes by Ofenbach on the main stage that had a pop vibe at times and got the people moving.
Kayzo
Crowds were dancing like crazy all weekend but nothing matched the insanity unleashed during Kayzo’s set on the Piedmont stage in the late afternoon sun. From the very first drop a huge cloud of a dust rose into the air as the barricade shook the entire front of the stage and the crowd danced and slammed. Incorporating elements of hardstyle, dubstep, and trap, Kayzo could transition from a pop melody to a stomping beat in seconds flat, and that drove the crowd nuts every time.
Louis the Child
Louis the Child was another act that could turn the tempo around, but they kept it more laid back with a great indie-pop sound. A good example of that would be their new song, “Love is Alive featuring Elohim.” Pop hooks with great beats.
Seven Lions
Jeff Montalvo, or Seven Lions, as he’s known professionally, had one of the best sets all weekend over on the Piedmont stage. A blur of hair and smiles the entire set, his mix of dubstep, drum and bass, and house music was a great way to close out the Piedmont stage before folks caught the headliner, Kygo on the Peachtree stage to end the festival.
Tokimonsta
Throughout the festival we would find ourselves spending more and more time over at the Criminal Records stage with it’s expanse of trees and cutting edge and up-and-coming acts. It will be exciting to see these artists climb the ranks up to bigger stages much in the same way that Marshmello did from the side stage in 2016 to Saturday night’s headliner. One such artist that really grabbed our attention today was Tokimonsta from Los Angeles. A producer, Jennifer Lee has worked on remixes for Justin Timberlake and Jodeci and she’s developed a great ear for pop melodies as evidenced by her song, “I Wish I Could (ft. Selah Sue).”
Kygo
Finally, Kygo closed out Shaky Beats in rare form with a great set of dance pop with songs like “Remind Me to Forget” and “Permanent” that had the audience up and dancing the entire time.
And with that, Shaky Beats Festival shut it doors on the 2018 festival and left the large audience reminiscing of the good times over the weekend, and to start planning out attending next year’s festival while they went back to the Monday Work Blues.
Written by and all photos by John McNicholas. Check out more of John’s photos from Shaky Beats Day 2:
