Category: Live Music
Concert Diaries: Em Beihold Shines on Stage
Em Beihold’s rising star took her by surprise and later tonight, she’ll tell us the story. Despite her shock, she has gone on to tour with an impressive array of artists like Lewis Capaldi, King Princess, and the Jonas Brothers. A lifelong musician, Beihold didn’t believe she could make a career out of music, but now, almost through with her first headlining tour, Beihold is steadily building up her budding fandom. In Atlanta, on a chilly Monday Night, she visits Terminal West, a humble venue with a capacity of 625.
The night’s opener, Will Linley, a boyish pop artist hailing from Cape Town, South Africa is a natural charmer and a flirt with the romantic and sensitive songs to back it up. Before “Gracie”, a song in which he ruminates over the identity of his future wife, Linley called out a fan in the front row—”the girl in the green shirt”—and asked for her name, Mary. Then, he slipped her name in towards the end of the song, singing “Mary / I know that you’d be the one to save me”.
For someone on his first-ever U.S. tour, he showed off a surprisingly convincing southern accent. Before heading off the stage, he plugged his upcoming single “Blame” with a live debut before it officially releases on April 5th. Then he headed off, leaving us waiting for the main act.
As the lights lowered, an extended introduction to “Roller Coasters Make Me Sad” played over the speakers. Beihold’s guitarist and drummer took their places and then, Beihold pranced in, heading straight into the first verse with an infectious energy.
Bantering back and forth with the audience, she joked that the next song, “12345”, was for the “anxiety girlies.” Mental health is a common theme in the 24-year-old’s music. She openly shares her struggles surrounding it through her songs, which her listeners tend to connect most immediately to. As a part of her advocacy efforts, she noted that each ticket sale from the tour contributes $1 to Active Minds, a non-profit leading efforts to take mental health seriously, especially for students.
Beihold’s relatability stems from her earnestness. In each song, she offers a fresh perspective on the realistic struggles of being a young adult in the modern age. She builds on this with each track on the setlist. In “Too Precious” she embraces her introverted tendencies, poking fun at the expectation of what it means to be “cool” at her age.
Before playing “Groundhog Day”, an undeniably relatable track, she tells the audience that this is the track that launched her career. She says she’d resigned herself to working as a production assistant for the Voice—”that’s like music-adjacent right?”—after being rejected by reality TV talent shows and her college’s a cappella group. And when “Groundhog Day” was embraced by audiences, it landed her a record deal from Republic Records. On the stage, she opted to play her keyboard as she sang it.
Then, she graced audiences with a live performance of an unreleased track, “Extraordinary”. Driving home her relatable persona, the song explores the constant pressure to be and do great things in your life, the thoughts that lead to those late nights when you realize you’ll never be the president or that 12-year-old competing in the Olympics. She contemplated with the audience “I don’t know why I’m so consumed by how history sees me.” She muses in the chorus “Optimism / tricked me / and it made me believe / that the only way to be / is extraordinary”.
After the Los Angeles native sang “City of Angels” about all the fakers in L.A., she invited her friend/merch coordinator, Leah, to the stage to back her up as she sang “Until I Found You”, a nostalgic song in which she joined crooner Stephen Sanchez, launching the song into the viral stratosphere, gaining 1 billion streams on TikTok and just short a billion on Spotify.
She played yet another unreleased track, “Shiny New Things”, focusing on the rush to embrace new trends as quickly as possible in the current digital landscape. The next three songs—”Goo”, “Pedestal”, and “Spiderman”—all focused on romantic escapades gone wrong, with the middle one being the mandatory ukulele moment.
“Lottery”, which Beihold named as her favorite, was a highlight of the show, exemplary of her down-to-earth nature, and the third unreleased track of the night. In “Lottery” she is grateful that she hasn’t been endowed with egregious amounts of money and the ails that accompany it.
As we headed to the end of the set, Beihold embraced the most energetic songs of her discography. Yet, the subject matter isn’t necessarily happy. “Egg in the Backseat” stemming from a childhood nickname, is a bouncy, upbeat track that gets the crowd jumping as she says of her crush, “I think you’re a bad Idea / you’re a bad idea”.
Second to last she plays “Maybe Life is Good”. Of the song, she noted: it was written at a time in which everything was bleak and miserable and she used this song as a tool to get better. She says “I named the tour after this song because I wanted this to be a safe space.”
Then finally, the night wrapped up with “Numb Little Bug”, one of her best-known tracks, which takes a humorous yet candid take on anhedonic depression and taking medications to get better. It’s another early single that gained her the following she has. The top comment on its music video reads “It’s fascinating how one song can really make you say ‘thank God it’s not only me.’”
Her malleability as an artist is evident. As the audience files out, I noted many parents here with younger daughters in tow, wearing pink tour merch. Even still, there is no shortage of teens and younger adults in the mix. Empathetic as she is talented, Beihold was a vibrant artist on the stage.
Show Review: All Time Low’s Atlanta Concert Brings Us Back to the 2000s for a Night
My favorite ritual before going to a concert is listening to the artist on the way to the venue. It’s like pregaming for a night of music, with a dose of that same music. So, I drive toward Atlanta’s Coca-Cola Roxy, singing along to All Time Low for the first time in a really long time. I didn’t know I was going to the show until 24 hours ago, but obviously, I could never turn down an invite to see a band that was a staple of my teenage playlists. What better place to be when you’re 23 with absolutely no clue of what to do next with your life? When you’re grieving the end of youthful aloofness that 23 doesn’t allow for? Pop punk is the natural answer, in all its angsty glory against the ails of suburban life and the isolation of late-stage capitalist U.S.A., now fused with the nostalgia of teenhood.
At the Roxy, members of the crowd are shrouded in flannel jackets, most of them donning facial piercings and colorfully dyed hair, a typical crowd for the genre. Later on, during the show, when Alex Gaskarth asks “Who’s been to an All Time Low show before?”, over half of the crowd will roar in affirmation. The remainder will be chastised by Gaskarth—”we’ve been a band for twenty fucking years.”
Gym Class Heroes, the final of the three opening acts, creates a unique buzz leading up to All Time Low’s set. I hear people behind me commenting that they haven’t heard a mention of GCH in 10 years. Even still, with just one full-length album that was released in 2011, GCH has enough hits to further fuel my nostalgia. They take us through a whirlwind consisting of “Stereo Hearts”, “Billionaire”, and “Ass Back Home”. The crowd sings along gleefully, for all intents and purposes, confirming my suspicions that for most of us, this show is a callback to our younger years.
When All Time Low band members finally trickle in, they wordlessly launch into their early hits, beginning with “Lost In Stereo” and “Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t)” from 2009’s Nothing Personal, followed by “Six Feet Under The Stars” and “Poppin’ Champagne” from 2007’s So Wrong, It’s Right.
When they turn to some of their newer songs off their latest album, Tell Me I’m Alive, they kick it off with “Modern Love”, followed by the title track. All Time Low formed when its members met in high school in 2003. Now, 35 years old, the band acts as a time capsule for the era they emerged out of, with the same cheeky song lyrics (“I’m messy, I’m reckless / I fuck shit up for breakfast”), a healthy dose of disillusionment (”you’re obsessed with drugs and dating / modern love is too complicated”), and a lot of guitar.
Gaskarth in particular looks remarkably youthful, with a head of bleach blonde locks peaking out of a baseball cap, dressed in a white shirt that reads “SWANKIE SAYS CALM DOWN” from their own merch line. In between songs, mimicking their song “Stella”, he says “Will you take me home, Atlanta? Will you tuck me into bed and kiss my cheeks, Atlanta?”.
At the Sound of Letting Go Tour, pop-punk remains on the safe side of disobedience and defiance, the same way I felt listening to All Time Low as a teenager. The crowd is tame. After “Fake As Hell”, All Time Low’s latest single alongside Avril Lavigne, Gaskarth prods the audience to mosh after noticing what he called a “negotiation to mosh or not” happening in the midst of the crowd. During the next song “PMA”, which stands for ‘post-modern anxiety’, a mosh pit emerges in the center of the floor, but it doesn’t last more than a few minutes. All Time Low isn’t necessarily a show people go to and expect a mosh pit.
After three more songs, Gaskarth’s bandmates exit as he sits behind a piano for an intimate intro to “The Way You Miss Me”, which smoothly turns into a full band ensemble by the second verse. Disappearing and then returning to the stage with an acoustic guitar, Gaskarth plays the beginning notes to “Missing You”, a highlight from 2015’s Future Hearts album. It’s an easily relatable track that both promises hope and delivers a reality check with a scream-along bridge that goes “Grit your teeth, pull your hair / Paint the walls black and scream / ‘Fuck the world cause it’s my life / I’m gonna take it back’”.
Edging closer to the end of their two-hour set, Gaskarth says that we’re at the point in the show where he starts to feel “delirious” and “unhinged”, thanking the audience for “cheering on [his] unraveling”. After bantering back and forth with bandmate Jack Barakat and promising a swift return for another show in Atlanta, Gaskarth explains the meaning behind the name of their tour, which comes from the hope that fans can take whatever bullshit they’ve been hanging onto and let the fuck go. The audience claps and, like churchgoers responding with a chorus of amens, repeat to themselves “wooo yeah, let it go”. Naturally, they play “The Sound of Letting Go” next.
During another strategically placed piano intro, this time for “Calm Down”, a bashful Gaskarth gives a sheepish smile on the very zoomed-in camera pointing at his face. It’s a new track from their last album and (yet another) doomsday anthem that dwells on the infuriating feeling of losing your mind over worldly matters that others find immaterial; the refrain goes “Don’t tell me to calm down, tell me to calm down / It’s freaking me out that you’re not freaking out”. At this point, another mosh pit momentarily emerges and then fades back out.
Next, it’s time for the fan-voted song of the evening, wherein the band asks fans to vote for one of four songs via QR code before the show. With a cutesy egg-race video game animation up on the stage screen, the band discovers the song of the evening along with the fans. Tonight, it’s “Last Young Renegade”. Gaskarth jokingly says that this one’s been a fan-favorite so far on tour, which felt ironic to him considering the album had a mixed reception or in his words “everyone was like ‘what the fuck is this’.
Nearing the end of the main setlist, All Time Low digs deep into their discography with “Weightless”, a song I haven’t listened to in years, but still know exactly where every syllable falls when I hear it. Written by Gaskarth when he was 21, alongside songwriter Matt Squire, the song has grown in significance to me since I first heard it at (most probably) twelve years old. I could feel the words “I’m stuck in this fucking rut” and “I’m over getting older” leading into the hopeful exuberance of “Maybe it’s not my weekend / but it’s gonna be my year” with clarity and determination I haven’t felt in a long time.
With one last song (”Monsters”), All Time Low gives their fake goodbyes until it is time for the encore, which begins shortly after with “Sleepwalking”. Afterward, they bring forward a stool with a big red button in the center, prompting someone to come from backstage and press it, which will then activate the slot machine being projected onto the screen behind them. There are three song options and after a couple of spins, it lands on “Vegas” for the night, but the audience is far from fooled. A few stray voices shout “Dear Maria”, before the band dutifully launches into their most iconic track “Dear Maria, Count Me In”. Anyone attempting to leave at this point is getting dirty looks from the people they kindly ask to move aside. Most fans stay for the euphoric endnote of this delightfully 2000s nostalgia-fueled evening.
Atlanta Setlist:
“Lost In Stereo”
“Damned If I Do Ya(Damned If I Don’t)”
“Six Feet Under The Stars”
“Poppin’ Champagne”
“Modern Love” (with “Stella” snippet)
“Tell Me I’m Alive”
“Sleeping In”
“Heroes”
“Fake As Hell”
“PMA”
“New Religion”
“Favorite Place”
“Dark Side of Your Room”
“The Way You Miss Me”
“Missing You”
“The Sound of Letting Go”
“Calm Down”
“Last Young Renegade” (fan-voted song)
“Weightless”
“Monsters”
Encore:
“Sleepwalking”
“Dear Maria, Count Me In”
Show Review: Highlight Athens
Every spring, students in the Music Business Certificate Program at the University of Georgia complete a Microcosm of the Music Industry Project, which is a semester long project of their own design based on a sector of the music industry that they are interested in. For their project, students Daniel Crowe, Charlie Enter, Marissa Jones, Ansley Nicholson, and William Perdue created Highlight Athens, a one day music festival, as a benefit for beloved Athens institution Nuci’s Space, a nonprofit resource center focused on suicide prevention and providing support for musicians. The event featured seven up-and-coming Athens acts of various genres performing in an intimate venue filled with glowsticks and the aroma of the fairly-priced grilled cheeses they were selling.
Sun Trick Pony
The day was off to a great start with a performance by Sun Trick Pony, an Athens four-piece with a sound that is difficult to categorize to one genre (think The Backseat Lovers meets Joe Purdy, but also something completely original). The set started out calm with only lead singer and guitar player Drew Henriksen on stage performing a couple of acoustic songs, but the rest of the band soon joined him on stage to add to an already impressive performance. With a set consisting of originals like “Corduroy Jacket” and newly released single “I think I love you,” every song was so different that by the end of the performance I felt like I had seen eight different bands play (and I was a fan of each one of them).
Shine
Next up was Shine, a hip hop artist from Gwinnett County who was truly like no other artist I’ve ever seen, with songs featuring themes like religion, love, friendship, support, and transparency. I had the impression that he was truly grateful for every person in that room. He ended his set with his single “Champions”, which has gotten an impressive 277,000 streams on Spotify, and after that performance, it was easy to see why.
Ashtxn
From the moment singer/songwriter Ashtxn started his set by having the audience greet his “favorite milf” on Facetime, one thing became clear to me: I had no idea what to expect from his set but whatever it was, it was going to be extremely entertaining. He had a great stage presence and managed to successfully hype the crowd up numerous times, due both in part to his charismatic personality as well as songs like “Nighttime” that can get a crowd to open a mosh pit in the middle of the afternoon, an impressive feat.
Evelia
The next act, indie pop/rock band Evelia, was completely different from those that it followed but remained every bit as captivating. Starting off strong with their song “Around”, their talent absolutely demanded (and successfully held) the attention of everyone in the venue for a solid 45 minutes. While I enjoyed every song that they played, their new song “Bed Bugs” was especially entrancing, and I cannot wait to hear more music from them.
Five Gallon Flow
When watching this performance, it was clear that the Athens band was having a great time while they played, and they sounded fantastic doing it. The high-energy set consisted of covers ranging from Frank Ocean to Chris Stapleton, as well as originals like “Easy” that reminded me of a yacht rock song but with extra guitar, which checks out considering the captains’ hats they wore for the duration of their performance.
Schmooze
The Athens funk rock band faithfully guided by lead singer Stewie Brannam gave an electric performance during their time on stage. Their set was filled with strong vocals, great instruments, supportive booing from especially dedicated members of the crowd, and a cover of the Carrie Underwood classic “Before He Cheats” that served as both a powerful showcase of talent and an effective warning against adultery.
Red Mile Road
Closing out the evening was headliner Red Mile Road, an Athens based hard rock band with a versatile sound that seems to draw different pieces of inspiration from every decade spanning the last fifty years of music. One of their originals “Getaway” ,a rock number with a very subtle country twang, sounded like it could have easily had a sync placement in any movie released in the early 2000’s, but I am glad that I am able to experience it now. Towards the end of their set, they took a quick screaming-based survey from the audience to choose what song to cover and Green Day’s “Basket Case” seemed to win by a significant amount of decibels (maybe next time, Blink-182). Following this, they also gifted the audience with a cover of Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy”, a song that I have now heard covered at two of the last five concerts I’ve gone to and would love to see the trend continue. Overall, their performance was a solid display of talent and a fantastic way to end the evening.
Concert Review: flipturn Glows at the Georgia Theatre
Last Friday, Florida-based flipturn brought their Shadowglow tour to the Georgia Theatre for one glorious sold-out evening with support from Athens’ beloved Hotel Fiction.
Hotel Fiction
From the second Hotel Fiction stepped on stage, it became abundantly clear that they were meant to be there as Jade Ireland’s soft vocals and Jessica Thompsons’s sharp sound balance each other out so brilliantly. Their distinct vocals allowed them to shine independently or as a duo, whenever they decided to grace the audience with some of the most incredible harmonies I have heard. This was especially true when they played their breakout hit “Astronaut Kids.” During their set, they asked the audience members to hold up their phone lights to make it feel like space and this was very consistent with the overall vibe of the show, which I can only describe as what I imagine it would feel like to attend a rave on a spaceship.
Seeing a band perform in the city they are from always elevates the experience; while I’m sure that “Athens GA” sounded phenomenal at every show, I’m willing to bet it sounded just a little sweeter in the Classic City itself. There is nothing quite like a hometown show.
They played “Man on The Moon” off their latest EP Enjoy Your Stay and not only was it my favorite song from their set, it is now one of my favorite songs from recent years—calling it phenomenal feels like an understatement, but for now that’s the word I’m landing on. I fully intend on listening to this song an absurd number of times until I physically can’t anymore. Then, picking it back up sometime around May and doing it all over again.
Towards the end, they played “Instead of us,” which is a triumphant number about putting yourself first. It is so well written that it makes me want to tell off people that didn’t even wrong me due to how empowered it made me feel. In only four minutes, the song both destroyed and rebuilt me. To close out their set, they asked the audience to sing along to their song “Monster,” but I am confident the crowd would have done this unprompted.
Every time a song ended, I was sad because I didn’t want it to be over, but once the next one started, I immediately felt on top of the world again. My biggest regret going into the show is only knowing a couple of their originals. To repent for this grave error, I will immediately be learning all of them. Although traveling to outer space may be ambitious, Hotel Fiction is certainly going places.
flipturn
I was familiar with flipturn’s music prior to the show but after hearing them during soundcheck I knew that I was in for something special. My expectations were high going into the evening, and they were absolutely shattered within ten minutes; the atmosphere in the venue was fantastic, the energy on stage was electric, and frontman Dillon Basse and bassist Madeline Jarman did high knees that put my high school tennis conditioning to shame. (They were also given sparkly cowboy hats by an audience member for “Space Cowboy” which really added to the ambiance.)
On top of being great musicians, they just seemed like great people. I watched at one point as Basse struggled to get the lyrics out, because he was too busy smiling at the audience’s response to the song. This made it clear that they were as humble as they were talented. Later, I watched as he jumped full speed into the audience while trying to crowd surf, but was unfortunately greeted by the Georgia Theatre floor instead of the loving arms of the audience. I think that he felt a full array of emotions that evening.
They have a great catalog consisting of songs with choruses that were designed to be played in front of a packed venue, and are somehow able to keep the atmosphere in the room lighthearted, even when performing songs like “Whales” and “Goddamn” that feature heavy subject matter, like dealing with suffocating pressure and mental health respectively. They have the unique ability of making a room full of people shouting the lyrics “Goddamn my mind, sign of the times / If everyone’s fine, everyone’s lying to you” feel comforting instead of daunting.
After seeing them perform “Halfway,” which features a nod to Houston, and “Chicago,” I concluded that they should write more songs that mention cities. (I would like to throw Athens’ name into the ring if they’re open to suggestions.) These are the kinds of songs that make me want to drive around with my friends and an open sunroof; they made me feel like I was in a coming-of-age movie even though I am a prehistoric 23-year-old.
While the set mainly consisted of songs from their debut album Shadowglow, released last August, as well as some earlier releases, they also covered “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears For Fears. With the way they dominated the Georgia Theatre, they just might be on track to do so.
During the encore they played “Vanilla,” a deep cut from their debut EP Heavy Colors. Basse prefaced it by telling the audience that it is not normally a part of their set, but they were making an exception since someone yelled it out earlier. Based on how the audience responded to the song, I think it was a pretty good call. At the end of their encore, they brought out Hotel Fiction to join them on stage for fan favorite “Nickel,” a song and moment that reminded me just how much fun live music can be.
They mentioned that this was their largest headline show to date, but judging by the massive amount of talent that I witnessed that evening, I have a feeling this won’t be the case for much longer.
Jameson Tank at Georgia Theatre
Haley: Going to our first Jameson Tank show, we did not know what to expect. Entering the evening guided only by lots of beer, a dream and the legends passed down by our Vinyl Mag forefathers, our names are Haley and Jacob, and this is our story.
Jake: Let us set the scene for you: two awkward individuals posted up in the corner of the Georgia Theatre, merch table on one side, overcomplicated sound table on the other and overly intimidating band members all around.
H: I felt like Dorothy when she first arrived in Oz.
J: We got the whole press treatment with access all around: green room, mezzanine and even the extra special artist bathroom with a squatting stool. With full bottles of Jack Daniels all around and a stacked beer fridge at our disposal, our night kicked off.
The Ocho (Although We Only Counted Seis)
H: The second I heard the first chords of “Ain’t No Sunshine” playing from the Georgia Theatre bathroom, I knew I was in for a great time. When I came back upstairs the lights were dim, the girls were feral and my beer was only slightly warm. This Saturday night marked The Ocho’s first time playing at the iconic Athens venue, but they didn’t appear nervous. In fact, this seemed to fuel them.
J: The Ocho started off with some fantastic covers. As soon as they stepped out, the crowd rushed forward, and I fully expected a mosh pit to their cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
H: They covered “Valerie” (best-known for its Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse version), which is an impressive feat in general, but even more so considering lead singer Will Pile was battling a cold. I’m not sure if NyQuil does sponsorships, but I’d like to officially nominate him.
J: Before the show, he confessed to us that he had just taken almost every single cold medicine available, making the performance of ol’ NyQuil boy extremely impressive. Also worth noting is Pile’s tambourine skills, which were awesome—I about fell over when he knocked it against his forehead.
H: They graced the audience with a cover of “Sheep” by Mt. Joy, and as a big fan I was thoroughly pleased with this rendition. Later on, when Pile and keyboard player Garrett Seitz switched places on stage, the audience collectively gasped and clutched their pearls. In contrast to the rest of his more casually-dressed bandmates, Seitz was wearing a formal jacket and sunglasses—a power move I greatly respect.
J: When they switched instruments for the final song, it completely blew my mind. The Ocho is certainly a talented bunch (of seis).
H: Amidst the crowd-pleasing covers, they also played four originals. To close out the set, the band played their debut single “Izzy.” While the song’s refrain asks “Izzy is he really stupid enough to let you go?,” the decision to save this song for last was anything but that. The atmosphere in the room was particularly spectacular during this song. The crowd knew every word. It was a special moment for a young band.
J: Everything made sense when an 8 ball was thrown on stage towards the end of their set. I’m hoping they got a resounding yes to the question “Do we rock?.”
H: I’m not sure what question they asked but if it was “Should we cover “Astrovan” by Mt. Joy soon?,” then the answer is yes.
J: I congratulated them as they came off the stage and found myself face to face with one of the funniest moments of the night as The Ocho was celebrating in the stairwell with their videographers. This night was full of talent and tomfoolery.
The Angelics
J: The Angelics gave an electrifying performance. I enjoy their music, but damn, they sound great live. It was funny seeing them come out and take their places because I did not expect anyone to play the instruments they did. We joined them for a nice dinner before and after nearly an hour of contemplation on who played what, I did not nail a single one down. They were a really kind group of guys, I must say.
H: The Angelics had a unique sound that reminded me of early 2000’s pop-rock, except if the singers of those bands respected women. At one point, lead singer Caleb Heiple’s glasses fell off while he was performing and he gained extra powers—think Clark Kent becoming Superman. From that moment on, he seemed to let go completely.
J: They gave us a taste of their upcoming EP Mom’s House, and it was really solid music. They had the entire crowd dancing to songs they had never heard before, which is a really impressive feat. They also played a song that won’t be included on the upcoming, which was not cool because it ROCKED. I remember just looking at Haley and exchanging a sad look of agreement, then us taking big gulps of our respective beers.
H: I’m honestly kind of mad at them for it because it was just that good of a song (the beer helped me numb the pain). I am open to forgiving them if they release it soon.
J: The most impressive part of their set was when they brought out violinist Julia Nyunt and trumpeter Ramon Zamudio. Their combination was beautiful. Nyunt absolutely shredded on her violin. Every set of eyes in the venue was on her when she played.
H: I’m not sure if it was due to their name or their RedBull sponsorship, but the band seemed to earn their wings Saturday night. Prior to this show the band had never played the Georgia Theatre, but I am willing to bet that they will return. As a whole, their set was fantastic and I am really looking forward to that EP.
J: They rocked so hard. Not a smidge of nerves or fear could be seen before the show. Their set was seamless, every cover was well-received and you could tell The Angelics had true fans in the crowd when they played their originals.
Note from Haley: This last part is for Kirby Smart and Todd Monken only so if that’s not you, you can skip ahead: you need to draft bass player Jason Angelich, because I am confident he can play football as well as he plays the bass. (This man is 6’8, we confirmed with him after the set.) When they threw out free t-shirts, his side of the stage had an unfair advantage.
Jameson Tank
H: The intro to their set felt like a fight song and I was immediately ready to go to battle with them (and I don’t think it was just because of the alcohol). During their set, I came to two realizations: if you told me that Billie Joe Armstrong and Tom DeLonge personally manufactured Jameson Tankersley’s voice in a lab and gifted it to him The Little Mermaid style to keep pop-punk alive I would believe you; and with how high he jumped on stage, track and field would be a suitable alternative career path for him if this music thing doesn’t work out. If he had asked an audience member to co-sign a lease or join a pyramid scheme they would have agreed—that is the kind of effect he had over the crowd.
J: Each member had their own distinct style. Their bassist, Javier Solorzano, was closest to me, and wow, what a man. He looks like your traditional metal guy if he had just rolled out of bed and thrown on whatever was closest. Edgy hair, funky shirt, and … slides? The guitarist, Bryce Burnette, was another story. He had on a sick jacket and an even sicker scarf covering the entire jacket (I nominate him for the coolest outfit of the night). And I’ll be honest, I was pretty jealous of his hair; he must have at least 4 steps to his hair routine.
Then there was Jameson Tankersley, the epitome of a rockstar, with his long, blonde hair and striking white shoes. The second you lay eyes on him, it’s hard not to think “damn, that guy is meant to be on that stage.” Lastly, their drummer, Connor Ankerich, wrapped it up perfectly, with just a good ol’ black tee. They hit about every demographic of style we have here in Athens.
Jameson had a sleek guitar with “FUCK YES” written in black tape on the back, and it perfectly summed up his energy. The bassist had a really cool 5 string bass, accented with a cute little scarf wrapped around its head (to compliment the guitarist’s scarf), the drummer had a bold Jameson Tank logo on a flashy red drum set, and the guitarist had a stark white guitar (to again compliment his scarf), all tying together to form one of the sickest setups I’ve ever seen. Looking like that, I knew I was in for a hell of a show.
H: Early into the set, the band covered the 2008 party staple “Don’t Trust Me” by 3OH!3 and the audience screamed the lyrics “You tell your boyfriend (boyfriend), if he says he’s got beef / That I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fucking scared of him” with such a fervor that PETA would’ve been proud; the only thing that would have made that moment better is if the crowd began throwing Beyond Burgers at Tankersley.
J: And a hell of a show it was. Tankersley has a stage presence like no other, rocking with the crowd and jumping high as hell (his signature move). I quickly came to understand why Jameson Tank was such a household name around Athens—I could literally feel the love from the crowd. Fans sung every word and the girls were screaming like Harry Styles was in the building.
H: Halfway through the set, bassist Solorzano took over lead vocals to play an original heavy metal song. Even though I understood none of the words, I throughly enjoyed it. (For context, imagine someone performing a song in a deep, guttural growl). After the song, he jokingly said “Ouch,” and I would like to thank him for his sacrifice.
J: It was a stand-out moment. His aforementioned metal look shone through. His screaming vocals stunned every person in the crowd. That guy is extremely talented.
H: Later in the set, he harmonized on a fairly high-pitched song which showed that he really can do it all (including having excellent hair, a reoccurring theme tonight).
The crowd response did not waver as the band went back and forth between timeless covers (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”) and heavy-hitting originals (“Too Hot to Hold,” “Fight Fair”), a testament to their talent. They played a cover of “When You Were Young” by The Killers that single handedly healed my trauma from a freshman year situationship because now I have a different memory to associate the song with. So thank you Mr. Tank & Co!
At some point, I watched as guitar player Bryce Burnette chased whiskey with a RedBull on stage and I am now both slightly afraid of and in deep awe of him.
J: At the end of the show, all the performers joined Jameson Tank for one final song, and it was a special moment. I couldn’t help but chuckle when there were three people all smashing down on the keys as the show came to a close. It looked like every single one of them had a blast that night.
H: While Tank might be in their name, the band sure as hell didn’t.
Shaky Knees Diaries: Day 3
It’s time for the final installment of the 2021 Shaky Knees Diaries :’). So let’s dive in, but make sure you’ve caught up on Day 1 and Day 2 first!
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Today, we are off to a late start. After the Run the Jewels performance of the previous night, we slept in. Then, we took our time grabbing lunch at Krog Street Market and strolling through the Beltline and Ponce City Market. (Side note: Krog has some of the best food in Atlanta – like Jai Ho, the Indian restaurant I loved and Soul, which served wings that my boyfriend will literally not stopping talking about.) We were staying close enough that we could walk to the park and today, we decided we would. The gorgeous Georgia weather was on our side as Shaky Knees had fallen neatly within those two blissful weeks of the year when the weather is neither too hot nor too cold and just perfect.
2:30 p.m. – So far, we had avoided the long lines that form later in the day as most ticketholders arrive late. Today was different. As we approached the main entrance (just a few hours earlier than the past two days), there is no clear path forward. Instead, we find a sea of festivalgoers ahead of us. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long as everyone is rushed through security steadily (for better or for worse).
2:55 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – The Aubreys
The duo, consisting of Malcolm Craig and Finn Wolfhard, began their performance at 2:45 p.m. We missed the first few minutes due to the crowded gate, but we still manage to catch much of the set. They’re performing on the Criminal Records Stage, which is the perfect place for casual enjoyers to camp out and sit on the grass while still being close enough to see the action. And that’s exactly what we did. The Aubreys are laid back but charismatic, charming the audience with their jests. I could see a dedicated group of fans jumping and swaying near the stage.
3:30 p.m. – The Backseat Lovers
The Ponce de Leon stage had a crowd going way before the Backseat Lovers took their places. The front of the stage is packed and even the little hill behind the gravel lot has little room left for walking. Once the show begins, many in the audience sing scream along with the band.
About halfway through the set, I start to wonder how Delta Spirit must be doing on the other side of the park. Out of curiosity, I’d been making mental notes about the relative streaming numbers of artists and what stage they were placed on. My conclusion is that there is no correlation, but for the most part, the Shaky Knees booking team seems to know their stuff pretty well. In this case, the Backseat Lovers outdo Delta Spirit by quite a large margin in terms of streaming. And yet, it’s the former that’s on the smaller stage. Ultimately, this worked well because the experience of a packed show in a smaller, more intimate venue suited the Backseat Lovers.
4:10 p.m. – My curiosity gets the best of me. So, we head over to see Delta Spirit perform on Zelle on Piedmont. There is a sizable crowd going with many gathering by the stage and others hanging back, enjoying the show from afar. We join the people lounging on the grass. Tired as we are, we decide to lie down on the grass and close our eyes. Delta Spirit is putting on a proper rock concert and I can feel the ground vibrate underneath me. At that point, I understand why they were placed on this very stage.
4:30 p.m.– Orville Peck
It’s time for the most enigmatic character of the entire lineup to perform. Orville Peck, the cowboy who’s never revealed his face, debuted in 2019. Despite my lack of familiarity with Peck, I could tell that festival goers were buzzing to see him live. So, we took our seats on the hill across from the Peachtree Stage. Peck was on the big screen with a wide white cowboy hat and his signature face mask. When he turned around, you could catch a better glimpse of his flamboyant jacket, which was painted with flames, a sunset, a truck on the highway, and (of course) his name. Before his performance of “Roses are Falling,” Orville sincerely asks the audience, “Have you ever loved someone so much you wanted to kill them?” If you have, he asks that you hold them close for this song.
5:00 p.m. – Ritt Momney
We left Orville’s set early to catch Ritt Momney at Criminal Records. And I will admit, I have some serious regrets about leaving Orville’s set early for a largely unremarkable performance. Oh well, we live, and we learn. Oh, and Ritt didn’t even stay for his whole set; he ended 15 minutes early!
5:15 p.m. – With the extra time on our hands, we move over to the Ponce de Leon stage and get a spot for The Aces’ 5:30 p.m. show. There is already a crowd forming. The Aces begin with their hit single “Daydream” and the audience loves them. Halfway through the show, lead vocalist Cristal Ramirez steps off the stage to sing by the barricade and the audience absolutely loses their minds. I am stunned by how her voice sounds exactly like it does on records. At some point, my boyfriend taps on my shoulder and goes, “The number of guys who were clearly brought here by their girlfriends and have no idea what’s happening is astonishing.” He was right. We were surrounded by a comical number of this exact pairing, and yes, it included us.
6:10 p.m. – We head over to Zelle on Piedmont where O.A.R. is performing. One thing I forgot to mention earlier: about one in 20 people today showed up with skeletons on their shirts à la the iconic Phoebe Bridgers look. And now, they concentrated in this exact spot, all waiting for the O.A.R performance to end to secure their spots for Phoebe.
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – O.A.R.’s performance ends and their fans shuffle their way out of the crowd; people here to see Phoebe fill the gaps in immediately. There’s still an hour to go while Modest Mouse performs one stage over, but at least, the crowd knows how to keep themselves entertained and we get to watch the sunset behind us as we wait. Someone holds up their phone a couple feet behind me, it reads, “Anyone lesbian?”
About ten minutes before her set begins, I hear the crowd in front of us begin to chant “mommy, mommy” repeatedly, but it dies down. The crowd tightens slightly as the beginning time gets closer. A girl next to me comments, “Did everyone suddenly get taller? I can’t see anymore.” My boyfriend responds back, “I think that if everyone could just take off their Doc Martens, we’d be able to see better.”
7:30 p.m. – Phoebe Bridgers
Right on time, Phoebe’s ensemble steps out on stage clad in skeletal bodysuits accompanied by Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” playing in the background. Phoebe herself is wearing all black with a faintly sparkly top and a blazer to top it off. This is her last stop of tour, and she begins with her most popular song “Motion Sickness.” When “Scott Street” plays, the crowd is singing along softly, but clearly; it sounds a like a lovely, haunting lullaby. To the absolute delight of the audience Phoebe plays her song “Georgia,” which has not been on the setlist for any previous shows of the tour. Of the song she says, “Sincerity is fucking humiliating but I’m coming around to it.”
When she notices a fan poster asking her about her favorite movie, she responds, “I re-watched the SpongeBob movie this year, it holds up. Anyway, this next song is about alcoholism.” Before her last song, Phoebe says she has one wish before the end of tour, she really wants a mosh pit (“I’m sorry about the tote bag bitches”). Then, she begins “I Know The End,” which builds and builds and builds until you can’t hear anything but the instrumental and screams. And then, it’s over.
8:30 p.m. – The Strokes
It’s 8:30 p.m. – time for the Strokes to perform, but they are nowhere to be seen. We get no explanation as to what’s going on. This is unusual for Shaky Knees because all the acts so far have operated like clockwork. Nearly 20 minutes pass until the band finally steps out on to stage. We have opted to watch the show from afar, where we can see the effects clearly and dance as we wish. The crowd is clearly excited to be there, but something feels… off. Leader singer, Julian Casablancas, kind of sounds like he’d rather be anywhere else. He is mumbling through the lyrics and his interactions with the crowd are subpar at best. I didn’t stay for the full set, but I did stay long enough to hear him start then immediately stop at the onset of one song (“I don’t know the lyrics to this one”).
Even dedicated fans were divided over the performance when the festival was over. Many were disappointed by Casablancas’ unprofessional demeanor and his overall performance, even ones who’d been waiting to see them for years. This was not the ending they had hoped for after an incredible weekend at Shaky. But there was another camp of fans who had a blast despite these shortcomings – it’s a rock concert after all, what did you expect?! That’s just classic Julian! Either way, when I walked out of that park with “The Adults Are Talking” fading out in the distance, I could almost see the end credits begin to roll.
So, that’s what you missed at this year’s Shaky Knees. If you want to experience it for yourself, check out the Shaky Knees 2022 lineup, which just got released! Until next time…
Shaky Knees Diaries: Day 2
Shaky Knees Diaries: Day 2
Make sure to check out my recap of Day 1 if you haven’t already!
1:00 p.m. – Carlie Hanson
We get to Central Park with the rest of the early birds to catch the first few shows of the day. I really appreciate that all the events start after noon at Shaky Knees, because damn, did I need to sleep in. First up is Carlie Hanson on the Peachtree Stage. Hanson walks out on stage with her freshly, freshly = three weeks ago, shaved head, and I am bemused by the thought that I would hate to perform bald with the sun beaming me during the hottest part of the day (Can you get sunburnt on your scalp?). From where I’m watching, this doesn’t seem to slow her down at all. Her performance is energetic and dynamic. She shows sincere love for the people of Atlanta. Meanwhile, I am sitting on the grass feeling slight to moderate levels of existential dread after realizing she is younger than I am.
1:30 p.m. – Kid Sistr
We leave Carlie Hanson’s show a little early to catch the end of Kid Sistr’s performance on the Criminal Records Stage. I had not previously listened to the all-women band before then, but so many friends recommended the act that we had to check them out. Happy to report that I’m pleased we got to see them perform. The trio clearly consists of seasoned and charming musicians, who are tremendously down-to-earth. Kid Sistr gained a steady following using TikTok during the pandemic and released a six-song self-titled debut EP. To me, it was obvious they were grateful to be back on stage, performing their first festival show.
2:15 p.m. – Arlo Parks
We arrive at Arlo Parks about 15 minutes early and take our places near the stage, which is set up with vibrant flower decorations and a simple yet elegant banner with her name on it. As the show begins at 2:30 p.m., I glance behind me. The field has gotten significantly more crowded. To be honest, I’m surprised Arlo was placed at such an early slot with only 45 minutes of stage time instead of a full hour. She certainly has the streaming numbers to justify a longer set; and although I couldn’t see the full extent of the crowd from the front, it seemed like a big one. Her performance was striking and endearing to witness. During the middle of the set, she plays three of the biggest crowd-pleasers back-to-back, going from “Too Good” to “Caroline” to “Eugene”. It was definitely a set worth seeing all the way through.
3:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. – During this three-hour period, my boyfriend and I don’t really commit to any of the shows. We catch a little bit of everything from Neal Francis to The Collection to Mercury Rev to Larkin Poe. We enjoy the pleasant October weather, thankful for a fall Shaky Knees, which is as perfect as the weather in Georgia can be. It’s warm but breezy. I almost wish it was in October every year, and I think a lot of people would agree.
For all the acts so far, we have enjoyed the show from a distance or in a sparse crowd by the stage. Tonight is going to be different. We’re going to get as close as we can to see today’s headliner – Run the Jewels. But this is a marathon, not a race. Getting front row at a festival requires perseverance and a little bit of prep.
So, first up: dinner. This time we go to the main food truck area by the two bigger stages where the food options are grand. They have everything from noodles to pizza to smoothies. Luckily, the food lines are pretty short compared to the lengthy bar lines. I settle for a chicken gyro and my boyfriend gets a pulled pork sandwich. These are much better than yesterday’s chicken fingers and salty fries. I grab a few lite snacks (Oreos and Nutter Butters) from the press lounge for the road (AKA holding our spot).
Before we stop by Peachtree Stage to scout the situation, I finally cave and use a porta-potty. I managed to go without them yesterday, but I know today I can’t risk it. But hey, here I am, I survived to tell the story.
6:30 p.m. – Garbage’s set on the Peachtree stage ends in 15 minutes. We sit by the grassy hills once again and watch everyone rock out to “When I Grow Up” (no, not the Pussycat Dolls’ song sadly). The set ends at 6:45 p.m. As expected, there’s a good crowd by the stage that doesn’t seem to be moving. So, we decide to join them and make our way down there to wait for the next set. At this point, we’re about six people away from the stage so things are looking good. There’s a group of women in front of us who say they’ve been here for six hours to see Portugal. the Man from the front row – that’s festival life for you.
7:45 p.m. – Portugal. The Man
Before Portugal’s set begins, one of the band members steps out onto the stage. He explains that for every place they get to perform, they ask someone from the indigenous community in the area to begin with an Indigenous land acknowledgment. So tonight, a member of the Atlanta Indigenous Peoples Association joins us over a video to acknowledge that the land originally belonged to the Cherokee and Muscogee communities. She goes on to say that for many Indigenous communities land is considered sacred. She asks for a moment of silence. Once it’s over, a video clip starts interloping Portugal’s hit single Feel It Still with other various clips. It gets the crowd going immediately. Their set is minimal except for a projector that plays various psychedelic images and videos for the entirety of the show. They range from declarations of love from the band to their fans to lots of naked dolls. Not once did the band stop to talk, except for maybe four words I don’t remember anymore. They played songs non-stop. It was a show that was immensely fun to see so up close and personal.
8:45 p.m. – Portugal the Man wraps up right on time. Promptly, Alice Cooper takes the stage at the Ponce de Leon, but unfortunately, we cannot make it. We’ll have to settle for hearing it in the distance. (From the looks of it though, we missed quite the show. Alice Cooper seemed to have taken the Halloween theme to heart.) Anyways, back to me. Shortly after Portugal’s set ends, their fans dutifully leave the crowd. I weasel my tiny self from the sixth row right up to the second. The girls in front of me say they’re not staying for the full set for the headliner and that we can take their place once they leave. Everything is going according to plan.
For the next hour, we watch as the stage is broken down and set up again. At this point, it’s gotten colder, and I’ve put on the new hoodie my boyfriend bought at the merch stand. It’s fluorescent pink with an image of the iconic Run the Jewels logo. On the stage, the crew suspends a larger-than-life version of the same logo above everything else. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check it out below.
9:45 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. – Run the Jewels
Alice Cooper fades out in the distance and the anticipation where we’re standing picks up. Right at 9:45 p.m., the crowd begins to chant “RTJ” repeatedly. Then, the DJ steps out onto the stage for the introductions with a remix of “We Are the Champions” playing in the back. The crowd responds by putting up a fist with one hand and a pistol with the other. Killer Mike and El-P step out onto the stage and the show picks up. The speakers in front of the stage are so loud, I can see the cardboard trash can in front of me vibrate. I have a lot of regrets in my life. Getting to the front of the stage for this show is not one of them. Neglecting to bring earplugs is absolutely one of them. There’s so much that happens during the next hour and 15 minutes that I’m not sure I can even do it justice, but I will certainly try.
El-P lovingly jokes that he never sees Killer Mike get nervous to perform, but tonight it seemed as though Mike was in fact nervous to perform for his home city of Atlanta. On top of that, this is the duo’s fourth show in three years. Needless to say, it certainly feels like a special event for everyone. Thirty minutes in and the girls in front of us leave as planned and so, I am now at the barrier still wearing the pink RTJ hoodie.
Run the Jewels, who are known for their politically charged lyrics and activism, interlace a lot of it into their shows. Like when the crowd chants “look at all these slave masters posin’ on yo’ dollar.” At another point, during “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” I raise my camera up to record the show, and right at that second Killer Mike spots me and performs his lines pointing directly and me and my camera:’) – an absolutely unforgettable moment.
Later on, somebody behind us throws their shoe on stage and security immediately jumps over the barrier to find the culprit that everyone is already pointing at. On the stage (unrelated to the shoe incident), Killer Mike preaches “developing empathy and compassion is gold. Love is gold. And every woman in this crowd deserves to be loved and cherished.” The audience responds sincerely to his sentiments.
Then, the duo does something unusual for a festival. They say their goodbyes ten minutes early and leave the stage. A minute passes, the “RTJ” chant starts back up, and they burst back out for an encore. They perform a few more songs. Finally, Mike takes a moment to bring his kids out onto the stage and asks them to stay for the final song. The show is over but Killer Mike and El-P come back out after the lights go out to thank everyone, but the mics were already cut so we couldn’t hear them. We join the crowds and depart after a second successful day at Shaky Knees.
Shaky Knees Diaries: Day 1
7:15 a.m. – It is Friday morning. My alarm goes off and I am not quite ready to leave my bed, but I know I must because Atlanta traffic is a bitch and I’m coming in all the way from Athens for Shaky Knees. So, I haul ass out of bed. I shower, put on my first-day outfit, and pack a few last items. I make my coffee and head out the door.
8:30 a.m. – I pick up my boyfriend and we are headed to Atlanta. For most of the ride, we listen to the artists we’ll be seeing this weekend and get hype.
10:40 a.m. – We arrive in Atlanta with miraculously little traffic along the way, and we head over to pick up our wristbands at will call.
(There is a brief intermission period here in which I take us in the wrong direction heading to the festival gate, which means we take a 20-minute detour going around the park. And then, I take us in the wrong direction inside the festival trying to find the first act we want to see. The sad part is I was looking at a map both times. Hereafter, I am no longer allowed to navigate anywhere, ever again.)
12:00 p.m. – Specialists
Even though my poor navigation skills cost us a good bit of time, we manage to reach the Criminal Records Stage just in time to catch the Specialists kick off the festival. Hailing in from New York, Specialists have certainly brought the heat (and a few of their friends) for their first-ever show in Georgia. These guys are more than ready to party hard at noon. The energy they have on stage is insanely fun. Once the show ended, I couldn’t help but think “what a perfect way to kick off this weekend.”
12:45 p.m. – Tejon Street Corner Thieves
Then, we walk over to the Ponce De Leon Stage to catch Tejon Street Corner Thieves. Truthfully, I had no idea what to expect from this show. (Looking back on it, I still have no idea what I witnessed.) Tejon Street Corner Thieves gave the audience Americana galore, and they loved it. Much to my surprise, I also loved it. One of them was playing what they called a “washboard skateboard,” which is (get this) a skateboard with a washboard and cymbal attached to the bottom hanging around someone’s neck. There were so many songs about whiskey I lost count. Before ending their set, Tejon Street Corner Thieves ask the audience to circle dance and the audience quickly forms an oval in front of the stage and dances away. Perhaps the most unique act of the day?
1:30 p.m. – It’s been a long day already and having skipped breakfast, I am hungry. For lunch, we turn to the festival food stand, and today, we settle for chicken tenders and fries (at an exorbitant price I would never pay in any other scenario – except perhaps at the airport). The fries are so salty they burn my lips but I’m still happy to be here.
3:00 p.m. – After lunch, we decide we want to sit down and map out the rest of our afternoon and evening. We walk across the grounds and head towards the main stages. Right as we are about to walk away, the next act at the Peachtree Stage begins. A few seconds in, my boyfriend and I exchange a look that says “damn, this sounds good.” So, we sit on the hills that look out towards the Peachtree Stage and find out who it is that made this killer entrance. Turns out to be Noga Erez, an Israel-based electronic musician and producer.
After a few short minutes on the hill, we decide it’s too good and we must get closer. I am immediately glad we do. She looks up close as cool as she sounds from afar. She knows how to occupy the stage so well that I am shocked when she says this is the biggest stage she’s ever performed on. During her set, she covers Kenrick Lamar’s Black Friday and makes it entirely her own. I was surprised that such a small international artist on her first U.S. tour landed on the biggest stage, but whoever made that call behind the scenes at Shaky Knees knew what they were doing. It was clear from my surroundings and the reactions online that everyone who overheard Noga’s charismatic performance would return home and stream her songs (and I certainly did).
4:30 p.m. – The Cults have 15 minutes left on Zelle on Piedmont before the next act is up. I can hear them perform Always Forever in the background as I snack on some Oreos and search for the best place to sit for the next act I am excited to see.
4:45 p.m. – Dermot Kennedy
Like clockwork, Dermot Kennedy takes the Peachtree Stage as soon as the Cults fade out. He establishes a powerful presence immediately. His live performance sounds a lot more rock than his records, but the intensity remains the same. His voice is clear and strong. Enjoying his poetic lyrics with the warm Georgia-November sun shining down, sitting on the grassy hills, and a lively frisbee game happening on the field in front of me, the show was nothing short of perfect (but I might be biased).
5:45 p.m. – Dominic Fike is up next on Zelle on Piedmont. For the life of me, I could not figure out what genre this man was trying to convey, and I am not sure he knew either. When introducing his band, he very pointedly fawned over his “sexy ass drummer” who was “looking so good tonight.” This prompted my boyfriend to say, “this guy sounds like he wants to fuck his drummer.” And that’s really all I can recall from this show.
6:45 p.m. – St. Vincent
St. Vincent came prepared with an hour-long Broadway performance for her sunset show complete with a city backdrop, backup dancers in costumes, props, and spoken interludes. It was the most theatrical performance I had seen on the stage so far and incredibly fun to watch. Even from a distance, it was clear to me that she was a performer in every sense of the word, missing no details at all.
7:45 p.m. – Amigo the Devil
We left St. Vincent’s performance a couple of minutes early to catch the beginning of Amigo’s set over at the Ponce De Leon Stage, and it did not disappoint. The whole reason I wanted to be there was that I got the general vibe that he was very weird, and I needed to see him live. Amigo proved to be as theatrical as St. Vincent except that he was a one-man show – just a guy, his guitar, and his guitar pedalboard. It was violently graphic and humorous at the same time – perfect for a guy named Amigo the Devil. He fooled most of the audience with a slow take on the classic “Pina Colada Song” (not me though), sang (multiple) songs about murder, and dropped nuggets of wisdom like “life is like a sewer. You get out of it what you put in.” Remember when I called Tejon Street Corner Thieves the most unique act? Amigo definitely gives them a run for their money. I think it’s no coincidence they’re signed to Amigo’s label, though.
8:45 p.m. – The Foo Fighters
The weekend’s biggest headliner takes the stage right on time. We hang back for this one too but that’s because we know we’ll be fighting for that front-row seat tomorrow. The Foo Fighters are pros at this point and know how to work a crowd. Everyone is having a blast and it is a wonderful end to the first day of Shaky Knees 2021.
Jameson Tank Plays Paloma Park
This past Saturday, directly after the Dawgs secured yet another win, Jameson Tank took the stage at Paloma Park. Let me preface this review with a disclaimer: I turned 21 last Sunday, so this was my first game day where I could legally drink. How that influenced my experience of the show is up to you to decide.
With that out of the way, the show was fucking awesome. You knew they were either gonna be amazing or the worst thing you have ever heard from the moment they came on stage. The band’s eponymous frontman Jameson Tank (full name Jameson Tankersley), indistinguishable from the sea of frat boys in his Georgia jersey and athletic shorts, but for his shoulder-length straight hair, reminiscent of Gregg Allman during the Allman Brothers Band’s heyday, was front and center. Next came lead guitarist Bryce Burnette. Before I give you this man’s description, I want to tell you that I had just started drinking when I saw him and am confident my description is fair and accurate. That being said, this man looked like a Guitar Hero avatar come to life: red, cheetah-print motorcycle jacket, a mess of curly hair so long it obscured everything but his mouth, and a cigarette that I’m sure he smoked purely for aesthetic purposes. In contrast to Burnette is the band’s drummer, Conner Ankerich, who I can only describe as looking kind. He seemed like the golden retriever kind of frat boy rather than the rapey kind. Rounding out the foursome was Javier Solozardo on bass. He looked like a man who watched a lot of TikTok during quarantine and took note of what girls liked. Fluffy hair that seemed to float when he moved, painted nails, a patterned, short-sleeve button-up shirt, well-groomed beard, and a single gold earring for good measure.
Before Jameson Tank played a single note, I could tell Tankersley was well versed in how to work a crowd. He looked at the mass of day drunk UGA fans and instantly saw the best way to get them on his side: Call home the dawgs. The familiar chant, with its closing bark, instantly connected the crowd to him and set the basis for an amazing performance.
They kicked off their set with some classic rock with Queen’s “Fat Bottom Girls” and Ozzy Ozborne’s “Crazy Train” before starting their run of early 2000s tunes with a cover of The Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Scar Tissue” that has every white male in a golf shirt (which made up well over half the crowd) eating out of their palms. Throughout the night they covered a wide range of songs from SmashMouth’s “Allstar” to Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u.” What all these songs had in common was that almost everyone knew the lyrics and could sing along.
They were also sure to intersperse two or three original songs throughout their set. I’ll be honest that man could have been reciting the Declaration of Independence into the microphone, and I would not have known. The combination of guitar, drums, bass, and Georgia fans ranging from tipsy to blackout effectively ended any chance I had at making out a word he was singing. However, I am optimistic it was catchy as hell because the music was amazing. It evoked a sense of the vinyl-era classic rock they’d been covering all night with a dash of early 00’s pop-punk that helped the song pack the extra punch needed to get the crowd jumping up and down to a song they’ve never heard, and if they’re anything like me, don’t know the name of.
I think the show was so enjoyable because every one of those boys knew what live music is about more than just the music. It is about how an artist can engage, excite, and energize the audience, and Jameson Tank was able to do just that. I started the show sitting at a table with a good view of the stage; four hours later (and yes, they played for four hours straight), my calves were sore from jumping up and down for the past 3 ½ hours with my voice strained and raspy from singing along. The group, particularly Tankersley, lacked the awkwardness I’ve found inherent in a lot of newer artists’ live performances. He was able to transition the band and the crowd from one song to the next without awkward pauses and, in doing so, kept the audience growing until I was being pushed by those trying to get closer (and to be honest doing a bit of light shoving myself). Overall, I had an absolute blast, which is exactly what I wanted from the show.
Listen to Jameson Tanks’ original music on Spotify or Apple Music, and be sure to catch them playing Warehouse on November 12.
Side note: Towards the end of their set Solozardo, who had only sung a song or two, provided lead vocals to the band’s cover of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” that literally caused my jaw to drop. I swear to god, the ghost, the very essence of Brian Johnson (who is very much alive) entered Solozardo while the rest of us chanted “thunder.” It was unreal. I feel we may have been bamboozled, and Solozardo was doing some very convincing lip-synching while Tankersley worked a boombox. That is the most logical explanation for what I heard. Well, that and that I had my first long island iced tea about thirty minutes prior.