The triumphant return of the Shaky Knees Festival was bittersweet. For over two years we waited for this, we grew inpatient for it, we settled down again and waited, because it was the right thing to do. So, when October of 2021 came along and we got our festival back, we partied and went hard; rightfully so. That was the sweet part. The bitter part was that as long as the wait was, the festival seemed so quick to go. Shaky Knees gave us back a real sense of normalcy again, and just like that the 2021 version is in the books. However, fear not, Shaky Knees will be back in late April of 2022; at least that is the plan.
Nonetheless, the 2021 version gave us plenty of material to jam out to and plenty of material to talk about. Three days, four stages and over sixty acts to catch. Good times is an understatement. The smiles as The Hives kept jokingly referring to Atlanta as Atlantis, Run the Jewels bringing old school hip-hop icon Greg Nice on stage, Idles tearing down the house, Alice Cooper and his band putting on a Broadway-like production, or The Strokes poking fun at the loser Dodgers — as the Braves clinched a World Series berth — were just some of hundreds and hundreds of small moments that made Shaky Knees unforgettable.
Overall, the festival ran rather smoothly. Food stands were plentiful and quick to deliver, plenty of booze, concert sets almost ran perfectly on time **coughTheStrokescough** and the crowd was simply all too happy to just be back.
So, you ask yourself, what were the better acts of Shaky Knees?
Well, here are our Top 5 acts of Shaky Knees, pound for pound:
5.- The Hives.- Energetic, charismatic and crowd-engaging.
4.- Frankie and The Witch Fingers.- The psych-rock outfit made the most of their set. Melting faces from first note to final chord.
3.- Alice Cooper.- All these men in make-up and swagged out, but the show-stopper and attention-grabber was one guitarist, Nita Strauss.
2.- Black Pistol Fire.- Pairing opposite St. Vincent was no small task. Pound for pound outperforming her was insane. Kevin McKeown deserves to be on the bigger main stages.
1.- Idles.- No need to convince anyone on this.
Now, here is our gallery. Before that, do not forget to head over to the Shaky Knees website and get those early bird tickets come November 3rd. We cannot wait to see you again in April. Cheers!
LoudSound Magazine 