Shaky Knees Festival 2025
Atlanta, GA | September 19-21st, 2025
Written by Natasha Santana
Cover photo via Shaky Knees Website, Charles Reagan for Shaky Knees Festival 2025
Between September 19th and September 21st, I experienced the most peaceful version of music that could exist. No exaggeration. A cluster of alternative folks who came together to hear their childhoods and teenagehoods perform right before their eyes. It was evident by the tears that fell from faces next to me in the crowd when My Chemical Romance came on stage. Between the smiles of those headbanging to Blink-182 and The Black Keys, everyone was there to simply exist without any judgment.
Shaky Knees was founded by Tim Sweetwood to bring indie rock into the Atlanta region. The intention is to ensure that it is all about the music, not the grandeur of attractions. People can experience an abundantly intimate but exciting moment with their favorites. You can sense that with how stripped everything is at Shaky Knees.
There is no extravagant sale being held like other festivals. It is all about the music and the peace that comes from watching your playlist come alive. Located in the heart of Atlanta in Piedmont Park, you can either hike about a mile to the park or enter through another entrance. Where I was staying, it was easier to take the hike. What was better was that you could hear it all as you arrived at the park. As you walk through the dark underpass and past the night or morning runners, I could hear the sweetness of Lenny Kravitz play.
The festival itself consists of the best audience. The fans who have to genuinely work to see their artists. That inherently means that everyone really needs to be there. Everyone was kind, and so were the people behind the booths. The outfits were so creative, from recreations of album covers to eclectic, flamboyant outfits. Everyone put in the effort, workers alike, and it felt incredible.
This year's lineup drew out insanely large crowds. I would say out of all the crowds I have seen from Lollapalooza to Governors Ball, the crowd for My Chemical Romance and Blink-182 was the craziest. The entire park was covered, and you couldn’t even see the trees from everyone sitting on them.
The sets I saw were the essence of what Shaky Knees was, which made it the best festival to go to alone. On a steep hill, I watched as The All-American Rejects asked for inflatable giraffes and paid homage to their 2005 hit ‘Dirty Little Secrets.’ The crowd was vibrating through each other as everyone hugged their friends while jumping. People launched themselves forward to be crowd surfed to the sounds of their favorite songs. People on the hill itself would roll down as the drums electrified the grass.
To even begin to write about Johnny Marr's set is complicated. It was beautiful. Just him and his red guitar. No special effects, no fire shooting from the stage. Just him and The Smiths, Modest Mouse, and The Pretenders discography. With a simple beer in my hand and my feet stuck to the ground, the crowd was transported into the soothing and melancholy lyrics of ‘Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now’ and ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.’ It felt like the perfect start of the day.
Perfectly curated by moods and crowd, the days would pass, and the night would come to the sounds of the sensual tones of Deftones. Words can not describe the air that night. People were camped outside the park just to listen to their set. It was a mixture of being softly buzzed and a fanatic of hearing ‘Change’ turn the night around. It was a true definition of ascension. Even with Lenny Kravitz, people had their shoulders down and their chins tilted up to the sky with gentle sways. The definition of experiencing the music.
While it is an indie rock festival, there were classics like Devo and Weird ‘Al.’ Granted, I didn’t grow up knowing who Weird ‘Al’ was, so it was an interesting ride watching ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ turn into a rendition of a YouTube parody. I loved it. As I talked to the people in the crowd about who he was, there was just a wholesome endearment towards this Weird guy. Everyone would laugh with their own children on their shoulders as they passed down this classic figure to their futures. Quite cute, really.
Overall, it was an honest experience of music that I recommend everyone should go to alone. Shaky Knees 2025 became a memory that the crowds and I included will treasure. Especially after hearing the first piano key from Black Parade. Just a solid, honest, and pure festival meant for people who simply want to listen to music and mosh.
