Shaky Knees 2026

Shaky Knees 2026: A First Timer’s Honest Review of the Atlanta Rock Festival 

By Carolin Harvey

When I saw the Shaky Knees lineup announced back in February of this year, I knew I had to go. It had been about seven years since I travelled out of state for a festival. My best friend had been living in Atlanta for two years, and I’d yet to visit him– this was the perfect excuse. The other draw? Saturday’s headliner– my favorite band, Twenty-One Pilots. 

DAY ONE: Birds will fly alone

Friday kicked off with a hotter-than-hell set from Hot Mulligan. It was approximately 95 degrees in direct sun, but Hot Mulligan prevailed despite the heat. On multiple occasions, Nathan “Tades” Sanville encouraged the GA crowd to boo the VIP crowd, which I found fun. Festival class-divide is a whole other debate I won’t get into right now, but it’s oddly dystopian when there’s people sunburnt and dehydrated on the field, and then there’s people elevated in air-conditioned “sky bungalows.” It was me and my broken fan against the scorching heat. 

During this set, I decided to check out the Peachtree stages’s “Verizon viewing area,” since I happen to be a Verizon customer. All you had to do was show a pass proving you were a Verizon customer from the Festiverse app, then you and a plus one could enter the space. The dedicated area was a small pen next to the soundboard area, and the view wasn’t bad. However, it was difficult to maneuver even when crowds were at their lowest numbers. So unfortunately, that was my only time in the Verizon pen. 

Towards the end of Hot Mulligan’s set, I ventured off to find a water filling station. I would’ve thought the main park area hosting the Peachtree and Piedmont stages would have hydration stages on the perimeter. That was not the case– there were bars galore with water for purchase– but no immediate access to free water. I hiked into what I describe as the “vendor/sponsor village” where I finally found a hydration station after a staff member guided me there. The walk wasn’t horrible by any means, but for a festival that large, and in egregious heat, there should be a water station within the sightline of each stage. 

I flocked to the Piedmont Stage to catch Geese with my filled water bottle in hand. I had another decent view, and this was the peak relaxation of the day. A cool breeze was coming from somewhere, which made the heat bearable. An inflatable horse bopped around the crowd. Wisps of weed smoke fluttered from every direction. It was marvelous. Cameron Winter played some of “Lifestyle” by Rich Gang on his phone through his guitar pickups during the bridge of “2122.” 

I had been harboring my energy in anticipation of Turnstile. Even though I’m from Baltimore, this was embarrassingly my first time seeing Turnstile live. I sported my Baltimore Orioles x Turnstile jersey, which I received from a special Orioles game ticket package. I saw about ten other people in this jersey throughout the day, which was more than I expected. I received several “whoops” or “Go O’s” along with fist bumps and high fives in solidarity. It felt nice to have a familiar community in my midst. 

The crowd was dense, and nearly impenetrable, but the second the peaceful chirping of birds started playing, the crowd started to shift. The signature color blocked background appeared; it was accompanied by the low drone at the start of “BIRDS.” Finally, the guitars kicked in and Brendan Yates catapulted onstage. I have never experienced so much vitality all at once. Yates commanded “JUMP! …  JUMP! … JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!” with so much ferocity, and the energy was reciprocated. Was I even jumping? I’m not entirely sure…I just got taken by the masses around me. The people I started the set with? Gone almost immediately. I was flying alone. Good thing we set a meeting point for this exact scenario– bad thing was that no one had any cell service– more on that later. 

I lasted through “Real Thing” and “ENDLESS” (barely) before I began to feel the overwhelming suffocation of the Atlanta heat and humidity amongst thousands of people. I promptly took myself out of that pit, made it to the perimeter, and looped around to the front of house left where I grabbed the barricade to keep me from collapsing. I was huffing and puffing an embarrassing amount but caught my breath enough to sing weakly along to “I CARE.” 

While hanging near the barricade, I witnessed people being escorted out of the pit from who knows where, and off to the medic area. For every fallen soldier there were about five successful crowd surfers who made their victory lap out of the barricade and back into the crowd. As I sipped from my water bottle that had somehow survived in my spandex pocket– I slowly inched my way back into the crowd– determined to finish out strong in the mosh. “HOLIDAY” and “BLACKOUT” nearly took me out with tribulations such as a failed crowd surfer’s crotch nearly falling on my face, along with nearly being swallowed up by four conjoining mosh pits. The ethereal beginning of “NEVER ENOUGH” was enough recovery before getting into the breakdown. The “T.L.C.” finale was a complete blur– I truly gave it everything I had. I stumbled out of the pit and dropped to my butt and lay flat on my back. The sun had finally gone all the way down, so for once I didn’t feel like I was suffocating. 

I picked myself up off the ground and checked my phone, only to discover none of my texts had gone through over the last 2 hours. My new mission was to find my friends I’d been separated from. I could hear Fontaines D.C. starting at the Piedmont Stage as I weaved through the Turnstile battlefield. I got myself to my meeting spot, watched some of Fontaines D.C. in a daze, and then decided I wanted to go on a merch sidequest. I regrettably left my friends behind, and we set a new meeting spot for The Strokes. That was some wishful thinking. There was no way in hell I was going to find them. 

In a sidequest to my merch sidequest, I found a nice spot on a hill to lay down and watch whatever the heck was happening during Danny Elfman’s set. I had gone the entire day without seeing this side of the festival grounds. I pulled myself off the ground yet again and climbed a hill to the massive merch tent. When I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. The lines were unfortunately…also massive. There was luckily a Verizon customer line, but it definitely didn’t cut the wait time any shorter. I commiserated with a dad and his young daughter in line over the ironic lack of cell service.

The merch designs were great, and admittedly I did spend enough on Shaky Knees branded merch alone to earn me a free tote bag. I redeemed my $20 credit for being a Verizon customer from Festiverse, and yet that barely made a dent in my total after tax and tip. These merch folks were WORKING their asses off. The entire festival staff was extraordinary, battling heat, long hours, and some inevitably difficult patrons While in line, I met a dude with the same Turnstile jersey I was wearing, and it turned out we had some mutuals from back home. Small world. 

Now equipped with my Shaky Knees koozie strap, I felt compelled to buy a beer and leisurely enjoy The Strokes from an industrial sized cooling fan. I simply didn’t have the energy to push through the masses to find my people– this was a solo journey now. Even from the very back of the field, I still had a great view. The sound was great, and the visuals were too. Julian Casablancas went on a rant about AI midway through the set– it was incredible. There were some technical difficulties throughout the set, which Casablancas made known, but it wasn’t really noticeable to me. They powered through the end of their set with “12:51,” “Last Nite,” and “Reptilia.” “Reptilia” had a random excerpt of Twisted Sisters’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” before diving into the infectious main riff. The Strokes miraculously ended before the 11pm curfew, and off went the masses into the streets of Midtown Atlanta. I found my friends somewhere on 10th and Myrtle. 

DAY TWO: Welcome (back) to Trench

The sun was shining and the sky was as blue as could be for day 2. My friend and I arrived at the festival grounds midafternoon and took the time to peruse what we’d missed the day before. It was peaceful strolling through the shade, sipping beer, and taking silly photos. My one regret is not getting a pic at the Josh Cellars booth when we passed it. There would be no “letting the Josh talk” this Shaky Knees. I revisited my cooling fan from The Strokes and we took refuge on the ground for a bit before bracing the heat for Peach Pit at the Peachtree Stage. Their surf rock indie vibe was perfect for the day, and a great warmup for what was to come…or so I thought. The band had pointed out the heat, and made note of one particular cloud that had swept in seemingly out of nowhere and temporarily blocked the sun. It felt amazing. Towards the end of the set, “Weather in area” appeared on the screens with a bright aqua colored background. We shrugged. There were barely any clouds around, surely it was just a precaution. 

We meandered over to the Piedmont Stage for a chill set with Blood Orange. We unwinded on a hill and noticed the aqua blue screens were still reading the same thing. It was then I noticed some dark clouds rolling in, but surely not enough to do any damage. Well, I was wrong. Three songs into Blood Orange, the set stopped, and who I’m assuming was a festival representative came onstage instructing the crowd to move away from the metal barricades. People were hesitant, since there wasn’t any rain yet. I could hear from the Peachtree Stage that the same instructions were being given. I knew that the Twenty-One Pilots fans camped out on the barricade were going to be LIVID. I saw several of them lined up when I exited the festival the night before. The aqua turned to red and suddenly it was time to evacuate.

It was truly a bizarre sight– one stage had a dark cloud looming over it, and the other had a bright blue sky. Once we got up and started moving, the raindrops came in, slowly, and then in buckets. We were left with no clear idea of where to go, just to “leave.” We weren’t allowed to shelter in any festival structures (not that there were many), which left us to seek shelter elsewhere. A staff worker rudely yoinked my beer from my hands as we exited. That might’ve been the stupidest part– we’re evacuating and you’re concerned about my beer? Mind your business. If a cop got me in trouble for open carrying on the street, that would’ve been my burden to bear. 

My friend and I walked aimlessly with no clue of where we were, since we didn’t want to risk our phones getting drenched. Finally, we stopped to take shelter under someone’s porch, where two other drenched festivalgoers were already lingering. They said that the homeowner had come out to say they were welcome to take shelter there, so we joined. Rideshare cost an arm and a leg, and we didn’t want to walk into an establishment soaking wet. The homeowner (shoutout Sam) gave us towels and the comfort of their dog. It felt like a moment from the end of a horror movie where the final girl(s) is sitting on the back of an ambulance wrapped in a blanket. By some miracle, my friend had a friend nearby who’d just gotten off of work, and came to our rescue. 

We returned safely to our apartment and proceeded to get out of our soaking wet clothes. We decided to get comfy and cozy, silently accepting that the festival was over. There had been no communications from the festival since the initial notice to evacuate. Deciding to keep our spirits up, we downed a bottle of Monique wine (not Josh, sadly) and revisited our photos and videos from the trip so far. Around 9:10pm I looked at my phone and gasped when I saw a text from 8:55pm stating that doors would reopen at 9:20pm: “Due to the weather delay, Twenty-One Pilots will play and end at 11pm.” Shocked, I threw on a bandana for my matted hair, grabbed some yellow duct tape, and threw on my soaked shoes. Water squelched with every step.

Against all odds, we made it back to the festival with minutes to spare. We had no idea when they’d actually start, since their initial set time was 9:30pm. As we trudged through the mud to the stage, we heard Tyler Joseph’s voice: “What’s your ETA? TWO MINUTES!” The lights finally dimmed and the beginning of “Overcompensate” started to play. You best believe I shouted “WELCOME BACK TO TRENCH!” with my whole chest. My yellow duct tape I’d hastily applied to my shirt sweat off almost instantly. 

I got to hear “Center Mass” live for the first time, so that was a pleasant surprise. The outro was accompanied by pyro blasts as Tyler Joseph sang his heart out. I was surprised we got “Shy Away,” since I didn’t think there would be any Scaled and Icy tracks making the cut, but alas, I’m glad that one did. We of course got “Heathens,” which I could have done without, but it’s always fun and theatrical, especially in a festival crowd. Tyler instructed to “give it up for Josh Dun on the drums” as he shredded the bass. As I screamed “WATCH IT” over and over again, I realized I was going to have no voice in the morning. 

“Hethens” transitioned impeccably into “Next Semester” with the ending “us” from “Heathens” becoming the “oh woah” part. “Next Semester” is easily a favorite from Clancy, with the pounding bass, and the punk rock feel. The set cascaded into “Jumpsuit” a Trench classic, complete with pyro, cryo, and loud booms. Tyler demanded “ATLANTA! GET YOUR FEET OFF THE GROUND!” for the final bit of “Jumpsuit,” and though my feet were off the ground, so was the mud that splashed around me. “Nico and the Niners” concluded the Trench era of the set and beautifully transitioned into “Heavydirtysoul.” 

Next, we got “Drum Show” featuring the mighty Josh Dun in his shirtless glory. We even get Josh on the mic for the bridge, before Tyler comes in screaming “CHANGGGEE.” There was no drum island for Josh this time around, but Tyler got onto a platform atop the crowd for “RAWFEAR.” When I saw Twenty-One Pilots on tour last year, there were technical difficulties during my show date which resulted in “RAWFEAR” being cut from the set. Another first for me! He swung the microphone around like a lasso and played call and response with the audience. “Ride” came after, and despite its overplayed-ness it never fails to bring me back to being a freshman in high school. True nostalgia. The set was forced back into the present with “Tally” from Breach. 

The red beanie made an appearance for “Stressed Out,” forcing us back into the Blurryface era. The performance featured Josh Dun back on the mic for parts of the chorus. Tyler asked, “Do you know it?” and he allowed the crowd plus Josh to sing it for him. Oh, how I thought this song was relatable ten years ago– now I’m the one laughing in MY face. 

For the quintessential “Trees” speech, Tyler played his keys and said “I know it’s a weird day today guys, but thank you so much for coming back in and playing music with us.” He required that we give it up for Josh Dun on the drums, and all the production crew that sets everything up and breaks it down. Tyler asked if the band could come back again sometime, which garnered copious screams and shouts in response. Tyler made an endearing pouty face and quit playing the keys for a moment to take in the crowd, “You guys are so weird [...] I would take this group all around the world if I could, I promise ya that.” And just like that, “Trees” began.

Tyler and Josh drummed atop the crowd for the final moments of “Trees” like they always do. Fireworks erupted from behind the stage. They concluded with their famous line “We’re Twenty-One Pilots and so are you.” After the rain, mud, blood, sweat, and tears, I can say it was worth it. 

DAY THREE: LOL no.

Day 3 was never in the cards for me. I came for Turnstile on Day 1, and Twenty-One Pilots on Day 2. Three days would have been pushing it for me. 

Would I go again? Maybe. I’ll never say never. It takes a certain breed of concertgoer to survive a major festival. I’m not sure that at my ripe age of twenty-five I fit that breed. The irony is that this weekend (September 25-27) is All Things Go at Merriweather Post Pavilion, a much smaller festival, but a festival nonetheless. I have the luxury of this one essentially being in my backyard. Will the impending nor’easter wipe us out? Guess we’ll find out!