Shaky Knees brought the heat, sound, and electricity to Atlanta over the weekend of September 18th through the 20th. The city’s premier rock and roll music festival held the power in Piedmont Park during its 13th year of operations. Friday was sweltering with that classic Georgia heat, Saturday was cut short due to severe lightning, thunder, and rain, and Sunday revived all the energy to close out the festival with a proper bang.
Friday afternoon saw Atlanta’s very own Cartel open the festival at the Ponce De Leon stage with their classic emo pop punk to an excited, homegrown crowd. After their set, fans of them headed straight over to the Peachtree stage to catch Hot Mulligan, who offered a set with a range of genres on display from Midwest emo to pop punk to math rock.
Geese were up next on the second-biggest stage, Piedmont, playing during a setting sun and proving to fans they are more than a young and seemingly overnight success. The New York City band played hits like “Trinidad” and “Taxes,” while the crowd screamed the lyrics right back to them.
From here through the rest of the night, the majority of fans oscillated from the Piedmont stage to the Peachtree stage. Next up on the Peachtree main stage was Turnstile, the Baltimore hardcore punk rockers that have been taking over festival bills and who are still beaming off the success of their last record NEVER ENOUGH. It is quite easy to say they had the most energetic set of the entire festival, with mosh pits starting all over the main stage’s lawn and amping up the crowd for a great weekend ahead.
Fontaines D.C. took to the stage with a grace and coolness in performing that translated to a buzzy and thrilled crowd. The Irish post-punk band recently dropped their first single “Marianne” off their upcoming album Dopamine Chamber, and it was more than clear they were excited to play these new releases to their fans at Shaky Knees. At the same time, Danny Elfman was over at the Ponce De Leon stage ripping through his measured discography with a full orchestra, much to the delight of music lovers.
The Strokes closed out the first day of the fest at the Peachtree stage, running through hits like “The Adults Are Talking” and “ Last Nite,” as well as tracks from their newest album Reality Awaits. They brought their classic New York City rock and roll ambience to the festival and ended out Friday on the perfect note.
Energy was high Saturday morning in Piedmont Park after the night before. Sophie’s Body opened up the fest as a young band from Boston with grunge, great lead vocals, and excitement. Hotel Fiction, from Athens, Georgia, played on the Criminal Records Stage after, giving local fans their all with their indie rock dealings.
Villanelle brought their British influence and grunge rock to their crowd at the Piedmont stage in the shining sun. Geordie Greep were after, and killed their massive crowd with their experimental, progressive, art, and jazz rock fusion. The acts from across the pond wasted no time in indulging Atlanta rock lovers with force and enthusiasm.
Congress The Band, hailing from Charleston, played to a crowd thrilled to hear their soul-influenced rock and enjoyed every second of it. After their set, the sky grew dark, with crowds and lightning rolling in. Blood Orange and Taking Back Sunday both began their tasteful sets, getting only 2-3 songs in each before festival staff had to kick fans out due to safety, and it proceeded to start pouring down rain.
Unfortunately, The Prodigy, Pavement, Pierce The Veil, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets had their sets cancelled. Luckily for their mega fans, Twenty One Pilots were able to play their set not too long later, finally able to bring their highly anticipated show to light. Playing songs like “Overcompensate” and “Heathens,” the audience was overtaken with excitement — even more so when frontman Tyler Joseph jumped into the crowd and stood on a platform held up by the fans. The performance was visually pleasing and their stage presence was equally chaotic and fun. The duo definitely cleansed the audience spirits after a cruel weather disruption.
On Sunday, the final day, Showing Teeth’s Addison started things off right with her heavy, progressive metalcore, waking the fest up from its slumber the day before. Ireland’s Cardinals brought their signature sound of accordion-drenched alt rock to the main stage. Then, Violet Grohl played hit after hit from her debut album Be Sweet to Me over at the Piedmont stage, revving fans up for the packed day ahead with her sweet vocals and heavy bass.
Coheed and Cambria played into their heavy alt rock musicianship over at Peachtree, wowing fans and impressing strangers into listening to them. Jet and OK Go were next at the same time, splitting the Shaky crowd between choosing classic rock and roll or power indie pop rock, respectively. Both sets delivered great energy, and kept the crowd engaged and ready for the next acts.
Wu-Tang Clan and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were two rap acts added later to the bill due to dropouts, but this festival would not have been the same without them. Wu-Tang ran through “Bring da Ruckus” and “C.R.E.A.M.,” fulfilling the dreams of many long time listeners. Over at the Criminal Records stage, Fcukers were bringing the house down with their multi-genre rock-influenced dance music.
Up next, Knocked Loose closed out the Ponce De Leon stage to an energetic, wall of death-loving crowd, while LCD Soundsystem kept everyone else dancing the night away to nostalgic tracks like “Dance Yrself Clean” and “All My Friends.”
And finally, after a long weekend filled with heat, excitement, slight upset, but overall killer vibes, Gorillaz closed out the festival on a warm, electric Saturday night. Frontperson and mind behind the music Damon Albarn washed the crowd over with old hits like “Kids with Guns” and “Feel Good Inc.” and new ones off the most recent release The Mountain. Albarn even made it a point to spotlight all the tracks he’s made with local artists, surprising fans by bringing out the likes of 6LACK, DRAM, and EarthGang.
Shaky Knees is Atlanta, Georgia’s, and really all of the Southeast’s, premier rock music festival. This year’s lineup featured a range of rock acts and genres, which pulled in a huge crowd, and brought all the excitement for a weekend of fun to end the summer. Legendary legacy acts, and up and coming bands, coexist so well on the Shaky lineup each year, and nowhere else can you find an energy of true southern hospitality mixed with face-melting rock music. Atlanta knows how to stick out any kind of weather to truly enjoy a weekend of great vibes and music at Shaky Knees.
GALLERY: Shaky Knees Festival 2026 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia (September 18-20, 2026)
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