Fans converged on Central Park for the final day of the the three-day Shaky Knees Music Festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
About 40,000 people were expected at the park in the Old Fourth Ward on the warmest of the festival’s three days. Shorts and sun hats abounded while the chances of rain remain low.
The day’s headliners were Denver-based folk-rock band The Lumineers. Other highlights included The Flaming Lips, performing from their 2002 concept album “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” as well as Hozier, Live and Fidlar.
Here are some highlights from Day 3.
Read coverage of Day 1 here.
Read coverage of Day 2 here.
Puma Blue
London-based outfit Puma Blue was one of the day’s first acts, though front man Jacob Allen repeatedly noted he lives in Atlanta. The drummer wore a ball cap with “ATL” printed on it.
“We’re Puma Blue from London, except I live here now, not London,” Allen said to cheers. “You guys are very dear to my heart.”
The band performed a set of slow, soulful bedroom tunes, including “Pretty,” which dropped a couple of weeks ago. A saxophone player embellished most of the songs.
“You’ve been so lovely,” Allen told the crowd, attaining peak British status.
They closed with “Just A Phase,” which fans might know from a live recording at Eddie’s Attic.
— Alia Malik
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Snail Mail
The bedroom pop solo project of 23-year-old Marylander Lindsey Jordan, Snail Mail delivered an emotional set in a red top, jeans and sunglasses. She played her hit single “Heat Wave” mid-set, aptly named as the sun bore down on the crowd.
Backed by a band, she sang a mix of slow and mid-temp songs. The relaxing crowd perked up when she ended with probably her most well-known song, “Valentine,” the title track of her latest album, with a line that anyone who’s ever experienced a breakup can sing along to with the requisite angst:
“So why’d you wanna erase me, darling, valentine?”
Jordan credits Paramore as a major influence and started booking gigs as a teenager. Snail Mail played Coachella last month.
— Alia Malik
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Live
A mainstay of the ‘90s alternative scene, Live played several hits from that decade, starting with “Selling the Drama,” after which your intrepid music liveblogger fashioned her eighth-grade AOL Instant Messenger screen name. They followed up with “All Over You,” which the crowd sang along to. Frontman Ed Kowalczyk’s voice has not changed over the years, still a perfect mimic of the 30-year-old recordings.
Performing energetically, he gave off cool dad vibes when he paused to ask if everybody had their orange cups, denoting alcoholic drinks. Kowalczyk said staying “beveraged” was important.
Their other hits included “The Dolphin’s Cry” and “I Alone,” which they interspersed with deeper cuts such as “The Distance.” Unsurprisingly, they ended with “Lightning Crashes,” breaking for the audience to sing along to one of the final choruses.
— Alia Malik
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Future Islands
Also hailing from Maryland, Future Islands kicked off the set with their 2020 hit “For Sure,” getting the crowd bopping in no time. Most of the synth-pop band’s songs were danceable, and front man Sam Herring introduced most of them and said what they were about, such as “Hit the Coast,” about those times you just need to pack up your car and get out of town.
“King of Sweden,” belying its name, had to do with being in a plane crash and finding yourself on a beautiful island. The lyrics do also talk about meeting the King of Sweden while on a bender, so there’s that.
One of the last songs was their most famous, “Seasons (Waiting on You),” announced to cheers.
As the band played, screens that had been projecting videos of them switched to the words “Storms in the Area,” making everybody nervous. Stay tuned...
— Alia Malik
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Father John Misty
Despite touring his new album, “Chloë and the Next 20th Century,” indie favorite Father John Misty (real name Joshua Tillman) kicked off his hourlong slot with old favorites.
First was “Strange Encounter,” off of his 2015 album “I Love You, Honeybear,” followed by “Mr. Tillman,” “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” and “Nancy From Now On” — the latter two tracks released as part of Father John Misty’s debut 2012 record “Fear Fun.”
With the crowd properly warmed up, Tillman broke into his new album halfway through the set.
“I love playing this next tune at festivals,” Tillman said semi-sarcastically before playing “Chloë,” the record’s leading track.
The 2022 album is Gastby-esque, a nod to old-Hollywood told with Tillman’s characteristic sardonic black humor. The horns that soared in the background of earlier songs took center stage and drove the big-band track, a tongue-in-cheek in contrast to his earlier setlist.
The jazzy song seemed to loosen up Tillman, who quipped with the crowd for the rest of his set.
“I have no memory of writing this song … but it pays the bills,” Tillman said before launching into “I Love You, Honeybear.”
— Dylan Jackson
Hozier
As with fellow festival artist Tenacious D, Shaky Knees represents the trailhead of Hozier’s global tour.
Fittingly, the Irish singer-songwriter opened his one hour slot with “Eat Your Young” — the first track off of his three-track EP released in March.
The single seems like a further foray into pop, all catchy hooks and gliding harmonies, while still retaining the soulfulness that propelled him to stardom a decade ago.
Otherwise, Hozier pulled generously from his 2013 self-titled album and 2019 record “Wasteland, Baby!” Hozier played arena renditions of “To Be Alone” and “Jackie and Wilson” backed by the might of an eight-person band.
The set would occasionally broach into gospel, as he traded his electric guitar for an acoustic. The setting sun cast a golden hue over the crowd. Crooning as he sang “Movement” and “Take Me to Church,” Hozier transitioned the sunburned crowd from the day’s oppressive heat into the cool, dark Atlanta night.
— Dylan Jackson
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
The Flaming Lips
Even if you’re not really into The Flaming Lips, you can’t deny they put on a show.
Playing “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” from start to finish, lead singer Wayne Coyne started out in a clear plastic bubble, which seems like a COVID-19 reference but is actually a trick of his that predates the pandemic. Confetti blasted from the stage and rained down from giant balloons when they popped over the audience.
The crowd sang along to several of the songs, including the title track. During the instrumental portion, smoke poured out of smoke machines. Six giant inflatable pink robots backed the band, at times seeming to dance but drooping toward the end in what we can only hope is a sign they are being vanquished.
During “Are You a Hypnotist??” Coyne donned a Wonder Woman suit and played a large horn. For “Do You Realize??” one of the band’s biggest hits, a giant inflatable rainbow spanned the stage.
As dusk settled, laser beams shot out during “All We Have Is Now.”
The spectacle over, fans headed downhill to the main stage to end the night with The Lumineers.
— Alia Malik
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
The Lumineers
It only seemed fitting that The Lumineers, who headlined the first Shaky Knees in 2013, capped off the festival’s 10-year anniversary.
The Denver-based band led by New Jersey natives Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites met the moment — as a salve to the weary festivalgoers who had braved three days, burned and beaten, to be here.
The Lumineers opened with the self-titled single off their most recent album and fourth LP, “Brightside,” which features a pared-back sound light on the strings featured so heavily in earlier works.
Throughout the show, Schultz would address the crowd intimately and often.
He told a story about his uncle Charlie, who died fighting in Vietnam and served as the inspiration for “Charlie Boy.” “WHERE WE ARE” was inspired by a car crash that nearly killed his wife, Brandy Schultz, 10 years ago.
Backed by warm yellow string lights, Schultz launched the crowd into a call and response for “A.M. RADIO”
“Long as you run,” Schultz sang in vaguely Southern drawl.
“I couldn’t give you up,” the crowd retorted.
The Lumineers wound down their hour-and-a-half long set with folksy hit “Stubborn Love” — a single off the self-titled 2012 album the band was touring in 2013 when they played the first Shaky Knees.
— Dylan Jackson
