After two years in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, Tim Sweetwood and C3 Presents’ music festival Shaky Knees returned last weekend for three days in Central Park. The event was headlined by Jack White, Queens of the Stone Age, and The National, but it was the late night shows around Atlanta, and the festival undercard that shined brightest. ~ Written by Adam Kincaid
Here are some of the salient memories that endure as the festival lights fade:
Prior to the festival kicking off in earnest on Friday, May 3, several bands played Thursday night sets around Atlanta. We were in attendance for The Black Angels late-night show at the new Masquerade.
The new Masquerade venue is today located at Kenny’s Alley at Underground Atlanta, which allows the three stages (Heaven, Hell and Purgatory) to share a single open-air common area. It was a cool place to see folks coming together throughout the festival weekend, and if you didn’t do one of their late-night shows this year, you should put it on your radar for the future of the festival. It’s one of the best things about Shaky Knees. And nobody did it better all weekend on the late-night front than The Black Angels, before Shaky Knees even began.
When the festival began, it began with *repeat repeat, who were gracious enough to sit down with us for an interview (Check out our interview with *repeat repeat here). Their set was rowdy and energetic, and was a great festival kick-off.
Later in the afternoon, we spoke with Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, who also put on an energetic show. Here’s a rundown. (Check out our interview with RBCF here)
What occured in the time after Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever sat down with us, during those later hours of Friday at Shaky Knees was easily the hardest “which band to see” pileup of the weekend. We’d booked it from Courtney Barnett, who reminds us a bit of Bonnie Raitt with her low-key cool persona, to the Black Angels festival set, and from the Black Angels straight to The Brian Jonestown Massacre, from there to David Byrne and then Jack White. Didn’t even get to see Fleet Foxes festival set or Japandroids, damn you scheduling gods!
The following are my entire notes from The Black Angels set at Shaky Knees:
“The Black Angels are psych rock gods.”
I would’ve written more but I was dancing my ass off, and frankly that says it all. No way I’m missing Levitation Festival ever again. Listen to The Black Angels.
Meanwhile, it would be a savvy choice to be low-key excited for The Brian Jonestown Massacre show. They do the theme song from Boardwalk Empire, and I personally listened to the song Anenome more than any other track on Spotify in 2017. But on the heels of The Black Angels, the set felt a little sleepy, which was disappointing. I hope to see them again someday, and catch them in an environment that does them justice, like the basement of an unmarked building at 1:00 a.m. after some cool underground festival of real artists, man.
David Byrne’s set evoked a lot of Talking Heads memories. The band wore matching gray suits a-la Stop Making Sense, and played a mix of Talking Heads (“Naive Melody” and “Burning Down the House”) and solo Byrne. It was certainly a visual feast — his band performs with an array of choreographed moves, erratic dances, and syncopated emotes. It’s weird and awesome the way everything about David Byrne tends to be. His set closed with a cover of “Hell You Talmbout” in which the names of black police brutality victims are chanted over a call-and-response reply “say his name” from the band.
It was a powerful moment from Byrne, but perhaps one that fell, sadly, on deaf ears at this particular festival.
Lillie Mae joined Jack White
Friday closed out with a set by Jack White. There are few things to say about Jack White that haven’t already been said. He is a consummate entertainer, a veteran rocker and a politically charged messenger. At one point during his set, White’s drummer threw projected darts at a picture of President Trump on the stage backdrop. The show was loud, and rocking. It featured solo tracks, The Raconteurs and White Stripes hits, and closed with “Seven Nation Army.” Jack White puts on a hell of a show.
Bonus ** The Black Angels Late Night ** Shaky Knees Kickoff Show – Thursday, May 2nd
Shaky Knees does a stellar job with their late night shows. They’re in cool, intimate venues around our eclectic home of a city. The shows are a great way for people to not only see their favorite bands up close, but for people who don’t live in Atlanta to get a sense of what we’re all about. So when we got a taste of our first late night show this year, we went in hyped for Shaky Knees and ready to dance to Austin’s psych gods at The Masquerade.
The current composition of that band — Alex Maas, Christian Bland, Kyle Hunt, Jake Garcia and Stephanie Bailey — just work so well together. You could watch any one of the band members work, and be transfixed for a set. Blend them all back together and its enough to make your face melt. Especially true because the band is just bigger than that room. After all, they were headlining Austin’s Levitation Festival the weekend prior, and were now playing to a room of a few hundred. During the show we met people who came all the way from D.C. for the festival, danced to an array of Black Angels hits (“Medicine”, “Black Grease”, “You On The Run”), and got to explore what the “new” Masquerade has to offer. It was a groovy way to kick off the festival. Attending a Black Angels set in 2018 is like I’d imagine catching The Doors in 1968 would’ve been – mystical, dreamy and beautiful.
Written by Adam Kincaid, all photos by Mike Gerry
Lil dude trying to get better grip on the outstanding Courtney Barnett
Rooftop hangs just outside the festival to hear the amazing Fleet Foxes
Everyone was dancing during David Byrne’s set
