Shaky Knees '26: Gorillaz & Geese, Minus the Bear
ISSUE #338
Today, I’ll be returning to Shaky Knees, Atlanta’s premier rock music festival, for the first time in four years. What brought me out of my slumber? It’s funny, almost a full year after Getting Killed, to say it was Geese. Even ignoring that bot-marketing exposé, I simply haven’t revisited the album since Christmas. Already it feels like a time capsule—less a reflection of their artistic legacy than my life’s insistence on stampeding onward. I’m eager to finally see their famous live show.
They’ll be opening a heavy Friday—not even headlining! It’s probably their schedule, but more likely because The Strokes are back with their first album in six years, and a less-than-stellar one at that. I saw The Strokes last in 2021, and they absolutely bucked me like a bronco, even though (or probably because) Casablancas was drunk out of his mind. He still hit his marks though, and they delivered one of the best headlining shows I’ve seen from a Knees stage.
It’s a banger of a lineup through and through: Pavement, Blood Orange, The Rapture, and Gorillaz will finally be checked off my list—even Modest Mouse is leaving the cruise ship to tour their first album since 2021, only a marginally longer lead time than The Strokes. LCD Soundsystem will also play their millionth show since their official retirement 15 years ago, and while age has softened me to the necessity of an indie-rock retirement plan, it doesn’t mean I can muster up the energy to really be excited for them again.
Much more exciting will be seeing The Prodigy at the first set they’ve played in Atlanta since before the pandemic and their first Shaky Knees appearance in 11 years. But the real reason I’m getting up off my ass is to see my beloved Fontaines D.C., who only get better with each single and have their fifth album slated for October 16th.
Enjoy the best of the lineup below. If you ever needed an excuse to come to town, you could do worse than Shaky Knees. It’s one of the country’s best music festivals—especially now that it’s in cool(er) September—creative in its lineups and reasonable in its scale.
Today, I’ll be returning to Shaky Knees, Atlanta’s premier rock music festival, for the first time in four years. What brought me out of my slumber? It’s funny, almost a full year after Getting Killed, to say it was Geese. Even ignoring that bot-marketing exposé, I simply haven’t revisited the album since Christmas. Already it feels like a time capsule—less a reflection of their artistic legacy than my life’s insistence on stampeding onward.