The 2025 edition of Shaky Knees Music Festival settled into its new home in Piedmont Park and delivered three days of high-energy rock, emo revival, punk, indie and more. The festival took place Sept. 19–21 in Atlanta and featured over sixty bands across multiple stages.
The billing alone set expectations high. Friday opened with heavyweights like Deftones, Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, Pixies, Idles and Spoon showing off varied approaches to guitar-driven music. Saturday brought My Chemical Romance, The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant and Public Enemy among a stacked midcard. Sunday’s headliners Blink-182, Vampire Weekend, Alabama Shakes and a special “Weird Al” Yankovic set rounded out the weekend.
Weather was a factor, especially on Saturday. Temperatures climbed into the 90s and a brief pop-up shower rolled through just before The Linda Lindas took the Ponce de Leon stage. Despite the heat and unpredictable skies, crowds remained undeterred.
On Saturday many fans faced tough choices. A widely anticipated return for The Black Keys clashed with Public Enemy’s set. Some chose to move between stages; others decided to stay put and soak up theatrical spectacle. Meanwhile, My Chemical Romance delivered a full performance of The Black Parade, drawing perhaps the biggest crowd of the weekend, many in costume and singing along as the band continues their grand return.
Beyond headliners, there was much to discover. The Marías were an absolute wonder; Die Spitz brought raw punk energy, as did faves Soft Play (formerly known as Slaves), while Johnny Marr breezed through a set including Smiths era favorites; and acts like TV on the Radio, Fat Dog, Bilmuri, Scowl and The Backseat Lovers stood out among the deep lineup.
Sunday evening closed the festival on a high, with Blink-182’s two-hour onslaught of hits drawing a dense crowd to the Peachtree stage. The mood was celebratory, and the energy showed that despite some layout challenges, the festival spirit was intact.
See photos from Shaky Knees 2025 below, by Josh Darr.
