Contributing photographers: Charles Reagan, Ismael Quintanilla III, Pooneh Ghana, Roger Ho and Stepahnie Heath.
The 2025 edition of Shaky Knees Festival was a roaring success — a perfect storm of nostalgic headliners, hunger from the up‑and‑comers, friendly weather, and thousands of fans primed for three nights in Piedmont Park. From the first chord on Friday to the final fireworks on Sunday, it felt like a festival firing on all cylinders.
From a marquee standpoint, the festival rolled out several of its strongest headliners in years. On Friday, Deftones brought the heat — literally and figuratively — with a 90‑minute set filled with sweated vocals, ghostly imagery, and songs like “Be Quiet and Drive” and “My Own Summer.” My Chemical Romance owned Saturday night with their theatrical emo anthems, while Blink‑182 closed the whole thing out on Sunday with a power‑chord blitz of hits: “All the Small Things,” “What’s My Age Again,” “First Date,” plus heavier guitar riffs and drum loops that harkened back to their skater‑punk roots. Bands like Cage the Elephant didn’t merely play; they dominated their slots, bringing raw energy, crowd interaction, and seamless transitions from older hits to their more recent material.
But it wasn’t just the headliners who brought fire — some of the undercard acts absolutely kicked ass. Bands like The Linda Lindas, Wet Leg, Die Spitz, and Lambrini Girls turned early‑day and mid‑afternoon slots into unforgettable moments. Lambrini Girls opened with a shot of punk urgency— short, sharp, political — and managed to set the tone for much of what was to come. Wet Leg, by Sunday, had drawn massive crowds; their set opened with “Catch These Fists” off Moisturizer and evolved into a scream‑along session that rattled the park. The Linda Lindas, still teenagers, showed how confidence and volume can carry you a long way; their raw punk sound felt urgent, authentic, and welcomed by the crowd that was all too happy to throw hands and voices behind them. And Die Spitz — though less spotlighted — delivered enough intensity and stage presence that those who caught them early felt like they had discovered something rare.
Some of the most dramatic moments came when the heavyweights turned up the spectacle. Cage the Elephant’s set was ferocious: frontman Matt Shultz danced, lunged, headbanged, and never let up, steering through “Mess Around,” “Shake Me Down,” “Spiderhead,” and more with such physicality that the crowd felt it in their bones. Blink‑182 amplified their closing set with generous doses of pyrotechnics — fireworks, bursts of flames, visual effects timed to the choruses and drum fills — and a 90-minute onslaught of sing‑along staples that turned Piedmont Park into a pulsing, communal flashback.
Weather played its part, with September sunshine largely in favor of Shaky Knees. While the heat was real — afternoons were bright and humid, sun beating down — the skies held steady, allowing fans to roam freely between stages without major interruption. Thousands upon thousands of festival‑goers showed up each day. The crowd swelled especially for the bigger names, but even early‑slot artists found attentive audiences. The vibe was high: people in band tees, sneakers caked with dust, friends reunited, children sometimes on shoulders during quieter acoustic bits, every corner of Piedmont Park lit by shared enthusiasm.
Then came the finale. Following Blink‑182’s thunderous close, the festival didn’t just stop — there was a massive fireworks display lighting up the Atlanta skyline. It was a fitting punctuation mark, sending people home on a high, faces glowing, ears ringing, spirits lifted. And as music faded into bangs and blossoms in the sky, it underscored that Shaky Knees 2025 wasn’t only about what happened on stage — but about the moments between sets, the shared thrills, the unexpected discoveries, the collective joy.
But, enough reading, let’s just show you.
LoudSound Magazine 
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