Shaky Knees, Day 1
Reality Awaits
Today is the first day of Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta. Kathryn and I bought tickets for it long ago and brought along our dear friends Rebecca, Ben, Aidan, and Morgan. Our AirBNB is a mere 20 minute ride on the MARTA to the site of the festival, and since we arrived to Atlanta yesterday night we could spend our morning in peace instead of traveling. We set out to the holy land after watching the SpongeBob movie with delicious bacon and my weak drip coffee.
Islands of Men (Geese)
Those who know me and Kathryn also know that we are very passionate about Geese, the rock band from NYC who made waves last year for being a “psy-op”, despite the fact that we’ve been fans for years. This would be our fourth time seeing Geese and fully intended to station at the barricade as we had our previous showings. However, we did not account for the Atlanta heat or the sheer amount of people attending the festival. Shaky Knees is sold out this year, meaning we would be shoulder-to-shoulder with over 40,000 audiophiles while drenched in buckets of our own sweat. No, we did not get barricade this time around, but we did get close given the circumstances.
Geese is probably my favorite band at the moment, but… their hearts did not seem into this performance. We had last seen them on the precipice of their latest album Getting Killed, so it’s possible that a year of touring has lost its sparkle. Despite this, the crowd was energized beyond any Geese concert I had ever been to, rectifying any lethargy presented by the band. Kathryn and I found ourselves at the edge of the main mosh, which broke hell during 2122 and Bow Down. It was too fun to resist; we threw ourselves into the ring for closer Trinidad and bounced like pinballs until the concert ended, ejecting us outside of the crowd just as quickly.
It was a lot of fun, and I will never not be interested in going to a Geese show. Keep in mind this is the first band Kathryn and I discovered together, so we have felt a special connection watching them grow up as we have together.
As a side note, Geese guitarist Emily Green walked in front of us later that night during another set. This was particularly interesting as she had done the same when we saw her at Hopscotch at this time last year. Emily, surely you’re a fan of the blog. Same time next year?
Romance (Fontaines D.C.)
I had planned to see the adjacent Turnstile set after Geese, but the sweat and expended energy made it difficult to do anything but recharge and watch from a distance. My review of their latest album Never Enough still holds true (see my archive for more on that) but they seem like really great guys.
The next show on our list was Fontaines D.C., a British rock ensemble that rarely makes it stateside. Through no fault of their own, I wasn’t very familiar with their music apart from hits from their latest album Romance. I got a comfortable distance away from the stage with Kathryn and Morgan as their set began.
The energy was palpable from the very start. It’s rare to go to rock shows of this size and see this amount of fandom supporting the main act. I truthfully don’t know what else to say about them other than they deserve all the hype and it was a total joy to see them tear down the house in that classic dry British delivery.
Room on Fire (The Strokes)
At this point in the night, the sheer volume of festival attendees became too apparent to ignore. It was clear that we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near the main stage for The Strokes, the closing act and the fount of everybody’s excitement. We were content to take a spot in the back as one of America’s most influential modern rock bands took the stage. I promise you’ll see the outline of Julian Casablancas if you look hard enough.
As much as I love The Strokes, I didn’t enter this show with any delusions. This is a band who famously hated each other for a while, and stated upon their reunion that they “couldn’t care less about playing Last Nite” due to being sick of hearing it. Pair this with stories of late start times and you wonder if they’ll capture any of their initial magic at all.
Don't worry! None of this took place. They started right on cue and jumped right into a deep exploration of their discography, everything from the glory days of Is This It to the autotuned hilarity of this summer’s Reality Awaits. Since we were so far back and desperate to beat the crowds, we started leaving during the last few songs; but as we did, we were still regaled with the familiar sounds of Last Nite and Reptilia, songs I was convinced had no chance of making The Strokes’ playlist. I heard everything I liked and then some.
I know The Strokes have a distinct clean sound and a quarter century’s worth of practice behind them, but I was a little suspicious of their execution. Their set, especially the earlier discography, sounded very similar to the studio recordings of their hits. I may have been gaslighting myself over their interviews when they’re probably just well-versed at this point, but I do still wonder if they faked a few songs to get through them. I’m okay not knowing the answer. This was a big bucket list concert scratched off my list.
Friday Thoughts
Day 1 of 3 was overall a success! If we were to have only seen these shows, I would still be happy; yet, there is much still to come. I’m glad the future acts are ones I don’t mind watching from a distance, as these crowds are a larger force than my brain could have fathomed beforehand.