After just wrapping up the 2021 festival on October 24th, Shaky Knees Music Festival is back today with their 2022 lineup set to return to their regular slot on the calendar on April 29th – May 1st, 2022. The 2022 festival will return to Central Park in Midtown where they have been the last few years, this time with announced headliners of Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, and My Morning Jacket.
While 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic and 2021 was moved to October, which also included plenty of lineup tinkering after the initial announcement, hopefully 2022 is a return to some sort of normalcy. And hopefully this lineup sticks, because it’s a doozy foks! Possibly one of Shaky Knees best lineups ever….
Check out our SHAKY KNEES 2021: The Friday Edition – Day 1 Review here
Check out our SHAKY KNEES 2021: The Saturday Edition – Day 2 Review here
Check out our SHAKY KNEES 2021: The Sunday Edition – Day 3 Review here
Check out our SHAKY KNEES 2021: From The Photog – Top 14 Sets here
Okay, that may be a bold statement, Shaky Knees has always been a highly curated lineup and they’ve pretty much nailed it every year. But the 2022 version sure is looking mighty stacked.
First the headliners, Green Day on Friday night, Nine Inch Nails on Saturday, and closing down the festival on Sunday will be My Morning Jacket. However you may feel about Green Day, let’s be real, this should be a blast with plenty of punk energy and nostalgic songs. I know I will be singing along. Nine Inch Nails is going to be a really huge win for many. Trent Reznor and the band don’t tour all that often anymore. AND My Morning Jacket! Shaky Knees is named after a MMJ lyric, My Morning Jacket last headlined Saturday night of 2016 and it was magical with confetti and all, plus Jim James played Shaky Knees 2017. MMJ is what this festival is all about and a fitting closing headliner for the festival.
On to the next line….Billy Idol and Rainbow Kitten Surprise on Friday. Hey, Billy still puts on a good show to this day. Rainbow Kitten Surprise is a live band through and through, they know how to roar through a crowd. CHVRCHES and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on Saturday. Holy hell. CHVRCHES will bring some pop magic while King Gizz might as well be considered a headliner. This is a win of all wins to see King Gizz King on the lineup and this should be a set that is absolutely nuts. Please Shaky gods, when doing the scheduling, don’t put another great artist at the same time, in fact, just leave that timeslot blank on the other stages, we will all be at King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard anyways. Sunday just carries on with Khruangbin and Death Cab For Cutie. I’ve been hoping to see Khruangbin on the SK lineup for a while. The Texas band blends global influences with soul and plenty of psychedelia that should provide one of the more memorable sets at SK22. Death Cab are now indie classics with a long history of stellar live shows.
Of course the meat of Shaky Knees Music Festival always lies within the undercards, or the smaller print on the lineup. Friday, I mean Spoon, Highly Suspect, Travis, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Japandroids, Shannon and the Clams, Faye Webster, Nilüfer Yanya, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Mannequin Pussy, Acid Dad, and plenty of more. Can not wait to see Spoon again. Really pumped to see Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. That’s a stacked first day.
Saturday has Mt. Joy, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Japanese Breakfast, Gang of Youths, The Regrettes, Guided By Voices, Djo, Amyl and The Sniffers, Chastity Belt and more. Amyl and The Sniffers are going to be insane, don’t miss this Aussie band. Their live set has been called “ball-tearing”, so yeah. Kurt Vile, the legend himself, finally returns to Shaky Knees after playing the very first one at the old Masquerade Music Park in Old Fourth Ward. My how things have grown since that first amazing year.
On Sunday, we’ve got PUP, The Garden, The Happy Fits, Dirty Honey, Destroyer, Drugdealer, Angel D$st, and rising Atlanta artist Girlpuppy. Destroyer’s font size seems real small for a band this great, Drugdealer should bring some great afternoon grooves, PUP should be insane, plus there are still more artists to be announced. It looks like there are 6 more artists possibly to come on Sunday.
So yeah, all in all, top to bottom Shaky Knees Music Festival 2022 is looking like one of the festival’s best yet. Which means that Atlanta is going to be packed the weekend of April 29th-May 1st. Not only will Shaky Knees be at Central Park in Midtown, but Sweetwater 420 Fest, which usually occurs the weekend before SK, moved their 2022 fest at Centennial Park to the same weekend. With a lineup that includes everyone from Oysterhead, Trey Anastasio Band, The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Snoop Dogg, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Goose and many more, I’m told by jam band loving friends that the 2022 Sweetwater 420 Fest lineup is one of the best ever. Meaning if you are coming from out of town, I hope you have already secured your Airbnb, Room, Hotel, couch, or whatever it may be. I don’t even want to think about what a nightmare Uber is going to be, and the surcharges, so scared of the surcharges. Hopefully there is a plan in place for that…..
Either way, Shaky Knees 2022 should be one hell of ride. I know where I’ll be the last weekend of April/first weekend of May. Get your Shaky Knees tickets now before prices go up here. 3 Day and 1 Day tickets available including General Admission, GA+, VIP, Platinum, and Ultimate.
