Shaky Knees Music Festival steps firmly toward expansion

Shaky Knees Saturday (May 9) lineup:

The Avett Brothers, Wilco, Social Distortion, Interpol, Noel Gallagher‘s High Flying Birds, Neutral Milk Hotel, Flogging Molly, Milky Chance, ZZ Ward, the Black Lips, Built to Spill, the Devil Makes Three, Real Estate, Mariachi El Bronx, Fidlar, Metz, the Bronx, Palma Violets, Speedy Ortiz, the Whiskey Gentry, Viet Cong, Kevin Devine, Hey Rosetta!, Field Report

Shaky Knees Sunday (May 10) lineup:

Tame Impala, Ryan Adams, Ride, Old Crow Medicine Show, Dr. Dog, Spiritualized, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Panda Bear, Xavier Rudd & the United Nations, Best Coast, Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, the Both (Aimee Mann / Ted Leo), Diamond Rugs, Minus the Bear, Old 97s, Heartless Bastards. The Mowgli’s, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Fences, the Sheepdogs, the Damnwells, Steve Gunn, Matthew E. White, Nikki Lane

Hours: Music runs from 12:30 to 11 p.m. each day.

Where: Central Park, in the Fourth Ward West neighborhood of the Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta.

Tickets: $99 single-day general admission; $215 three-day general admission; $225 single-day VIP. Children under 8 are free with a paying adult (no more than two kids per adult). It is highly recommended not to bring children under 8 years of age.

Box office: The Shaky Knees box office will be located at the Atlanta Civic Center, at the corner of Piedmont Avenue and Ralph McGill Boulevard.

Transportation: Parking is not available on site, but there are paid parking lots in the area. Attendees are urged to use MARTA (red or yellow lines) to the Civic Center or North Avenue stations.

There's an app for that: A Shaky Knees one with schedules and maps and other helpful tidbits. Available for Androids and iPhones.

Info: 1-800-745-3000, www.shakykneesfestival.com.

For its third act, the Shaky Knees Music Festival is following its growth.

In its inaugural year, the predominantly indie rock gathering commandeered Masquerade Music Park — actually more of a mud pit that weekend — then moved to the drier concrete grounds of Atlantic Station for its sophomore season in 2014.

Lucky number three will see promoter Tim Sweetwood heading a bit east of downtown Atlanta to set up an eyebrow-raising lineup including the Strokes, the Avett Brothers, Wilco, Mastodon, Interpol, Ryan Adams, the Pixies, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Tame Impala, TV on the Radio and almost 70 other acts in Central Park, in the Fourth Ward West neighborhood.

It’s a natural progression, Sweetwood said, for an event that continues to expand.

“The property (at Atlantic Station) couldn’t hold what we wanted to do,” he said, adding that while many attendees last year appreciated the hard ground when the inevitable rain blew through, many others weren’t as enamored.

“People like grass and trees, so while Central Park isn’t as big as Piedmont (Park), it’s a nice step up for us and it’s easier to access,” Sweetwood said, noting the proximity to MARTA’s Civic Center and North Avenue stops.

Last year, Shaky Knees drew about 18,000 fans per day to the Atlantic Station site, which Sweetwood estimated could hold about 20,000. The space at Central Park can accommodate about 35,000, and he is hopeful that crowds will fill all available space.

In another testament to growth, this year’s fest will feature five stages — one more than last year — dubbed Peachtree, Piedmont, Ponce de Leon, Boulevard and Buford Highway.

The top drawer lineup is something that Sweetwood began cobbling together more than a year ago — ditto the time frame for his inaugural country-focused Shaky Boots festival taking place in Kennesaw May 16-17 — and the consistent parade of indie rock all-stars (with the occasional Trombone Shorty and Preservation Hall Jazz Band thrown in for variety) is bestowing Shaky Knees with national awareness.

Sweetwood estimates that about 65 percent of Shaky Knees attendees come from outside of Atlanta — “literally all over,” he said. This year has a strong contingency from South America, which Sweetwood attributes to the inclusion of the Strokes, who, at the moment, are only playing in four other cities worldwide in 2015.

But even with a festival landscape escalating faster than Zayn Malik’s solo career, Sweetwood, a self-proclaimed “festival junkie,” doesn’t think Atlanta is heading toward festival overload.

“Shaky Knees will have to continue to define itself as to what it is — that’s what has allowed multiple events to take place. SweetWater has its roots in reggae and jam bands, Counterpoint (May 22-24 in Rome) has some EDM and some jam bands, ours is straight-up rock with an indie punk flair and Music Midtown is as mainstream and as big as you get. And most of the others are neighborhood things. I love the neighborhood fests. I know what I’m doing every weekend,” Sweetwood said.

In addition to the guitar-centric vibe of Shaky Knees, Sweetwood is utilizing his involvement as a board member with the nonprofit Songs for Kids for a few different musical moments.

The organization exists to enrich the lives of children suffering from illness or hardship, through music, and each day of Shaky Knees and Shaky Boots will kick off with a main stage performance from a youngster involved with Songs for Kids and possibly a major artist.

Last year, Tommy Stinson of the Replacements jammed with one of the kids, and Sweetwood expects similar artist involvement this year.

“When you have something as large as this festival,” he said, “it’s important to make sure you’re giving back to the community.”