The planning of Shaky Knees used to take place in an all-but-unmarked office, down a long corridor of creaky hardwood floors, back behind a barbershop on Highland Avenue.
Today though, Tim Sweetwood, 44, and his team make their preparations from the more modern, spacious Live Nation office at Southern Dairies in the Old Fourth Ward, practically in the shadow of the former Masquerade location where Shaky Knees and Sweetwood’s career were born.
When Shaky Knees returns next weekend to Central Park, it will mark the 10th anniversary of the world’s rock icons descending on Atlanta to play the city’s largest rock ‘n’ roll event. The success of Shaky Knees over those years has catapulted the festival up from a two-day event to three, from 30 bands to more than 60, and from 10,000 guests to more than 40,000. And it has made an Atlanta music icon of Sweetwood.
Credit: Courtesy of Tim Sweetwood/C3
Credit: Courtesy of Tim Sweetwood/C3
Along the way, Shaky Knees has spawned country music festival Shaky Boots and EDM festival Shaky Beats — although neither spinoff is active in 2023. And the success of the Shaky brand has also helped Sweetwood to launch the Innings Festival in both Tempe, Arizona, and Tampa, Florida, and the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
All of that has a lot to do with Sweetwood’s ability to create, grow and lead major events, much in the same vein as Atlanta’s famed Music Midtown creators and promoters Alex Cooley and Peter Conlon a generation prior. Their festivals inspired Sweetwood as he grew up as a student at Westminster.
“Look, I identify with and have been influenced and inspired by the promoters who came before me. I have the utmost respect for Peter Conlon and Alex Cooley. Likewise, I have the utmost respect for Music Midtown. You can put that on the list of festivals that subliminally inspired me back in the ‘90s. We were bumming around the 99X stage,” he says.
But good luck getting Sweetwood to acknowledge that if Conlon and Cooley were the most accomplished promoters on Atlanta’s music scene in the 1990s, then Tim Sweetwood is Atlanta’s most important promoter today.
“I’m not the world’s biggest fan of ‘me, me, me, Tim Sweetwood,’ you know? We have a big portfolio, and a great team. And we’re working very diligently day and night to make sure Shaky Knees is the best experience for everybody, and that the 10th anniversary comes with a few special surprises.”
Credit: RYan Fleisher
Credit: RYan Fleisher
But make no mistake: Sweetwood is Atlanta’s biggest music promoter since Conlon and Cooley. And his hometown festival has garnered a cult following.
The Shaky Knees Family group on Facebook is more than 4,400 members strong, and engages with fellow concertgoers year round. People pore over possible lineups, debate which artists might appear on the next announcement, take group photos at the event, and help newcomers figure out where to stay, where to (not even try to) park, or what the bag policy might entail.
“It’s crazy, the group kind of blew up out of nowhere. It started out as five people having a place to post the acts we planned on seeing over the weekend and grew into something bigger. But, I think Shaky Knees works because it’s a small festival in a big city. It’s kind of an oddity in terms of music festivals. I mean, look how many people have Shaky ink on their skin,” says Justin Fischer, founding administrator of the Shaky Knees Family group.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Fischer is referencing one of the boldest and most inventive marketing campaigns in the history of music, the Shaky tattoo deal. To this day, the festival grants free entry every year to any attendee with a registered Shaky Knees tattoo. Thousands of people have registered, so many that the festival had to stop accepting new registrations.
This year, the event sold out faster than ever in its history.
That success is powered, at least in part, by Shaky Knees staying true to its roots. Where larger festivals like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza program acts across the pop culture spectrum, Shaky Knees focuses on throwing an accessible and approachable event for people who know their modern rock ‘n’ roll.
“I remember 2013, this new Shaky Knees festival lineup gets released, and it felt it was catered to me. I listen to a lot of small to medium-sized bands that I thought nobody had ever heard of. And here was this festival that absolutely catered to my ears,” says Kyle Edson, longtime attendee and Shaky Knees Family admin.
That authentic commitment to the indie underground in the era of rap and EDM has become a calling card for Sweetwood.
“I was a bit of a festival junkie back in the 2009 to 2013 era, going to Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, you name it. And, at the same time I was working at The Masquerade, helping as part of the talent team to run and book the venue. There was a park built next door to the old Masquerade space, and so we just figured why not? At that time, Music Midtown had taken a bit of a hiatus and it was a chance to fill that marquee festival hole, but with more of an indie and underground side,” says Sweetwood.
Alternative folk act The Lumineers headlined the first Shaky Knees in 2012 and the lineup was rounded out by acts like Band of Horses, Jim James, Drive-By Truckers, Dr. Dog and The Black Angels playing the first Shaky late-night show. Those after-hours shows extend Shaky programming out into Atlanta music venues like The Earl and Masquerade with shows that kick off after the festival ends each night.
In those earliest years, Shaky Knees boasted a lineup that read a lot like a college radio station playlist. Or rather, Tim Sweetwood’s personal playlist. And as the event has grown, so too have its acts. Music icons like David Byrne, Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor have all graced the stage. Stevie Nicks was scheduled to play in 2021 but was forced to pull out as the pandemic endured into a second year.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
“You get the sense that what Tim Sweetwood is doing is really a cut above. He really knows the music. He loves the music. He’s not just booking it because it will sell. You’ll see him popping up at the shows just to listen,” says Damon Larkins, a third admin from Shaky Family and a festivalgoer who travels each year from upstate New York to attend.
While a reputation for savvy lineups has earned Sweetwood his share of fans, the truth of the booking is that today, Sweetwood doesn’t find the bands so much as they find him.
“The talent buying side of the business is 180 degrees different from the early years. When you are starting out, and you don’t have an established festival brand, you have to have trust in the relationship with the artists. In year one of Shaky, it was 100% proactive outreach to go capture those bands. Fast forward to this year, and it’s more like 80% agencies coming to see if their bands can play,” says Sweetwood.
Credit: Roger Ho
Credit: Roger Ho
Regardless of how they get on the poster, the annual Shaky Knees lineup is one that tends to touch all the bases. Throwback acts like Alice Cooper and Tears for Fears have played. Bona fide rock stars like The Killers and Tame Impala are repeat headliners. Movie and television star side projects like Tenacious D, Djo and Suki Waterhouse have brought a dash of Hollywood flair. And the lineup undercard is perennially filled with a curated list of niche and up-and-coming bands worth knowing, like Pond or Babe Rainbow at this year’s event.
“We’re very proud of the discovery side of Shaky Knees. It’s known for that now, and we take pride in that. You’re not necessarily going to know when the lineup pops up who those bands are on the bottom couple lines, but they’re booked and set up to be inspired by the other headliners or bands playing the festival. You’re meant to show up at the festival early in the day and discover something amazing that you’ve never heard. We take great pride in the fact that you can discover something new at the festival,” says Sweetwood.
For all of his music festival wizardry though, Tim Sweetwood remains a quiet, understated leader first, and a fan of rock and roll second. When the music starts next weekend, the astute fan can catch a glimpse of him in the same place he always appears; his 6-foot-6-inch frame bending to stay out of the sightline as he catches a few songs from his personal favorites (like the Austin, Texas-based psychedelic rock mainstays The Black Angels) on a step to the side of the photography pit.
“I like to go in the pit and sit on the little step of the barricade, so I’m not standing up. Nobody sees me there, but I’m getting the best seat in the house.”
If you see him there, thank him for a decade of service to rock ‘n’ roll in Atlanta.
IF YOU GO
Shaky Knees 2023
May 5-7. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. $119-$5500. No on-site parking. All bags must be smaller than 12″ x 6″ x 12″ and clear. Small clutch purses, fanny packs and hydration packs OK. Central Park, 395 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta. shakykneesfestival.com.
