oday’s theme: “Vibey Dance Party” as coined by Brittany Garrett. Really though, a large portion of the Shaky Knees lineup included bands that casually make you groove…like it’s sneaky and brings out some weird stuff (aka Britt’s shoulder dance.) Although I was excited for the whole weekend, Saturday was my biggie. There were several ol’ faves and bucket list shows, so we went pretty hard.
Sponsoring the day’s work was Popeyes, for without you, we would have never been successful. Bless you and your chicken.
The weather:
The storms kinda held off…the powers that be knew my skin needed some vitamin D. With only one downpour requiring a poncho, things weren’t nearly as bad as they could have been. Slash it then turned out to be BEAUTIFUL.
The fashions/trends:
We explored these with ethical and systematic research. All collected information is purely objective and results from extensive collection of data. AKA here’s shit we noticed while people watching
- Asses/men in uniform – tight shorts are IN my friends
- Blow up couch thing – those weird air pillow things that look ridiculous are actually kind of cool slash worth the embarrassment of blowing them up
- Cold shoulders – that has to lead to some weird tan lines
- Bodysuits – keep it clean, ladies
- Jean skirts – so 90s
- Booty shorts – 👏ASS👏ASS👏ASS👏ASS👏ASS👏ASS👏
- Fashion backpacks – we’re in on this trend…cute and practical
- Crop tops – we saw lots of midriff
- High neck/shoulders – the people just wanna let those bad girls out
- Bad Tommy Bahamas/patterned shirts – all the boys were wearing these…lots of random fish and assorted fruit on collared shirts
- Fun bras – straps, lace, cut outs…we saw them all
- 70s circle sunglasses – Britt WERKED this one
- High waisted shorts – should come with a warning: DANGER, FUPA IS LIKELY.
The bands:
- Foreign Air is fun. Not that I like comparing anyone, they are kind of Glass Animals-y. Keep an eye out for them, for sure. Frontman Jesse Clasen wore a sweet leopard jacket that we spotted wandering the grounds later in the day. Thanks for the awkward hi-five!
- Anderson East has a way of causing the cute adorable old couples to dance for dollars. Every. Single. Time.
- Bishop Briggs, as predicted, can f*cking belt. And she seems like one cool ass chick. Girl’s vocals are on point all while like doing cardio on the stage, like whaaat?
- In case you didn’t know, this was Mondo Cozmo’s first festival ever. I know, you wouldn’t have guessed after his set on the Ponce De Leon stage. And even after the announcement, “RIP, bass, our good friend who we lost just a little bit ago,” the band took it in stride, even pausing a sec to hug a random stranger wearing a band tee. Good stuff Mondo Cozmo.
- Catfish and The Bottlemen – This Communion artist (yes like the Communion shows Zbar used to host) is fucking killing. The babies love them and I, a grown woman, love their English blokeness.
- Dr. Dog is apparently the first 3x Shaky Knees performer. The damn crowd showed why this is the case – way more people than yesterday in this slot and everyone was wholly engrossed in the Dr. Dog boys. We heard some new jams, which is exciting news to say the least.
- Fantastic Negrito most certainly lived up to high expectations we had set for him. He is one f*cking talented man and is using his talent to discuss social issues near to him. That is what art is for, is it not?
- Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath is known for being a bad woman and for wearing some aggressive AF shoes. How she pranced around in those platforms is a mystery to me. They’ll be in Louisville this summer at Mercury, and this shouldn’t be missed.
- Moon Taxi JUST ANNOUNCED AN IROQUOIS SHOW IN AUGUST. They bring something special when they’re in town…I wish they wouldn’t have played so many covers in their short 1 hour set, but the bros and bitties were all into it, so whatever.
- Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker showed off his new digs. Though he doesn’t necessarily have a whole lot of work to his own/new name, he played it all plus the Chet Faker stuff. He was emotive on stage, showing pure joy while performing, and it clearly rubbed off on the crowd.
- The XX was questioned as a Saturday headliner before and after their set, but for us, it worked. After the long, arduous day we had, the kind of chiller set was better for us. Our only complaint was the early ending – YALL: you had the longest set of the day, take advantage of that time!
-Aubrey & Brittany
Live Music Louisville 