Photos and Review by Max Stewart
Shaky Knees Festival‘s first weekend in Piedmont Park after spending years at Central Park in Atlanta, GA was a move that felt familiar yet a defining step in the evolution of the festival. The festival has stayed true to the lane of ‘indie rock’ while veering into hip hop, jam, and other pop sensibilities. The 2025 festival featured three headliners who were defining voices of the 90s/2000sin their own ways that felt familiar yet uniquely-distinct: Deftones, My Chemical Romance, and Blink‑182. There were many highlights over the three-day festival, but a few below to sink your teeth into as we eagerly anticipate next year’s event!
Devo are the Kings of Cool Weird: As we described in our preview, Devo are proto‑punk meets warped performance art. Their Sunday afternoon set was a perfect window into their unique and defining style that set the scene for so many bands in their wake. Seeing their shiny cone hats in the sunlight was one of many weekend highlights.
Spoon are the Stalwarts of Indie Rock: delivered a mid-afternoon set that reminded you why They Want My Soul or Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga still count. Britt Daniel and company leaned into their rhythmic precision, letting space and groove dance in equal measure. It wasn’t a “greatest hits” parachute jump, rather it was a focused statement from a band still evolving.
England’s IDLES energy is truly undeniable. IDLES’ show is a full dose of passion and energy: a truly immersive live experience complete with headbanging, sweat, and a rip-roaring good time. Crowd participation is always a big part: call-and-response, singalongs, mosh pits, body surfing.
Pixies Stoic Yet Captivating On-Stage Vibe: Singer / guitarist Frank Black’s yelps and quiet growls, the soft-loud dynamics that remain their signature, and the inevitable “Where Is My Mind?” crescendo. At one point guitarist Joey Santiago started playing the guitar with his hat and using the guitar cable as an instrument itself, almost commanding sections of the audience with it. Truly was a sight to see.
Deftones Fans Span Generations: Closing the first night, Deftones brought a different energy to the day but was very welecomed by the crowd. It seems the band has Their set was heavy, textured, smoky, a wall of sound that felt elemental. As was evident in their sold out Atlanta show in March, longevity in a band is a tricky thing. In nearly every case, it is difficult to maintain the momentum and sound of ‘peak’ eras of a band’s tenure (especially after 20+ years) due to members leaving, fans moving on to the shiny new artist, aging vocal sound, etc. But Sacramento’s Deftones have seemingly done the impossible. In their 37th (!) year as a band, they have achieved the rare feat of maintaining their original core fanbase while also growing to a whole new generation of fans.
Die Spitz and The Linda Lindas Show the Heart of Rock Still Alive in Younger Generation: There are so many amazing younger bands on the Shaky lineup every year, always a testament to the inspired generation’s hunger for maintaining rock. 2025 showed that the new wave of alt-rock still has teeth. Die Spitz and The Linda Lindas nailed a gritty punk vibe with more women in the mix, which was incredible to see.
Johnny Marr Proves Himself as One of the Guitar Greats. Johnny Marr was playing in the afternoon in the hot Saturday sun, but plenty of black t-shirts eagerly awaited his performance. His solo work often risks being an appendage to the Smiths mythos, but here he stood firmly on his own. The clarity and tone of his guitar cut through the heat. Marr is almost criminally underrated with some of the dynamic and distinct guitar parts. He dipped into some Smiths classic but didn’t linger in nostalgia. It was quite a treat to also see him sit in with the modern blues rock icons The Black Keys on Saturday.
TV on the Radio Remain a Comforting, Multi-Layered Live Act: Having heard them over the years in smaller rooms, seeing them in festival scale was a reminder of their ambitious yet accessible sound. The textures feature horns, electronics, Jaleel Bunton’s vibrant frontman flair, all wove into a set that was perfectly capped off with a rainbow in the backdrop.
Improvement Movement are the Band You Need to Know. Atlanta’s Improvement Movement are quite possibly our favorite new artist in 2025. Their musicality of vocal harmonies and unique time signatures make for a truly unique musical journey. Do not miss catching them live.
Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand’s dance-rock swagger. Their touchscreen rhythms, angular guitars, and confident presence held the Piedmont stage in check on Sunday afternoon. We all knew that “Take Me Out
would send the crowd into a frenzy, but so many others such as “Do You Wanna?” translated masterfully in the festival atmosphere.
Vampire Weekend hit with crispness and charm. Their breezy, sophisticated songs were a perfect way to watch the sun go down on Sunday evening. The horns, the tally of listeners singing along to “A-Punk” felt like a victory. The band even covered a Weird Al tune as a nod, who played the same stage a few hours earlier.
Blink-182 Keep Pop Punk Fun. Mark, Tom, and Travis wielded their hits with a silly spin: there were NSFW jokes, improvisations, and an understanding that their catalog is part confessional, part joke book, part adolescent catharsis.
“Weird Al” Yankovic was the wildcard of the weekend who arguably stole the show. His inclusion in a mostly rock-oriented festival could have felt forced, but he leaned into it, opening with “Smells Like Nirvana” and weaving in multiple genres, nerd humor (highlighted on video monitors during in-between-song costume changes), and showmanship. It was incredible seeing Vampire Weekend and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 side stage enjoying the show.
Sublime set the tone for the Vibes on Friday: The legendary trio worked the crowd effortlessly with surf-tinged ska and reggae threads to kick things off on Friday. Featuring founding members Eric Wilson (bass) and Bud Gaugh (drums) alongside late singer Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob Nowell, the band sounded seamless with the iconic tunes “Garden Grove” and “Santeria”.
Shaky Knees was another fantastic success, and we cannot wait for many more years at the new location!
