With a name like Junior Varsity, it might suggest that the chemistry between singers Brooke Danaher and Greg Vareresian might have started those in the high school years. Actually, the band started as a Duo with Zach Michel, observed in the shadows handling all the music production before adding Brooke in 2025. Somewhere along the lines of indie-pop with an invitation to dance, this was a wonderful start to Saturday at Shaky.
Punk bands really demand closed quarters in a dark moody venue in the wee hours of the night. At festivals, like many other bands, not so much. This English punk/hardcore duo, formerly known as Slaves, hit it hard in the early afternoon. Loud, crunchy energetic chaos! It was kind of like they had a full-time drum repair tech throughout the set trying to hold it together. They rocked!
Fat Dog, another English band followed at the impressively up-sized Ponce de Leon stage, and they gathered everyone entering from the nearby gate to form a very enthusiastic crowd. Hard to pin the style down here, but they hit it hard – not punk hard – but hard enough to raise fists and/or dance.
More punk rock on a Saturday afternoon? And from Austin, TX? Die Spitz didn’t start as raw as I might have expected, but as they set grew, they leaned into their punk swagger and attitude. Expect to hear a lot more from this talented group.
Up and coming Aussie band Radio Free Alice brought their new wave/post-punk set to Shaky Knees before headlining their first U.S. tour. Jangly guitars sounds with occasional sax give them a different edge than a lot of other bands for the type of music they play. Give “Toyota Camry” a listen. A new band to me, but not to many who knew the lyrics to many of their songs. Up and coming!
Scowl. From Santa Cruz, this alt-punk band continued the Saturday afternoon blitz of hard hitters. Guitarist Mike Bifolco brought the “punk” energy, but singer Kat Moss is the presence of the band – expressions everywhere during the set, but rarely a scowl. She clearly enjoys the role and connects with the audience in a manner that favored a “we’re in this crap together” spirit more than the typical “screw the world!” rage.
Massachusetts rockers Highly Suspect played loud distorted guitars with a tight beats on the drums behind frontman Johnny Steven’s mixture of rhythmic vocals and balladish approach. The band mixed some longer jams into their tunes with improvised rock solos and slow drums. Closers “Lydia” and “My Name is Human” made it emphatically clear what the band is about, driving rock with searing lead guitar. After the earlier blitz of punk-rockers, it was great to hear a band that just played the rock straight. Crowds got larger as the day went on, but it seemed like many made a point to arrive for this band, with lots of energy on the stage and the fans in front.
TV On The Radio took over the Peachtree stage for their highly anticipated first run of shows a since 2015, when they last played Shaky Knees. The band artfully played their blend of indie rock and funk to create groove that got the audience moving. They broke out the hits early with “Wolf Like Me” and “Happy Idiot.” Their tightly hypnotic song “Repetition” was a welcome deep cut and closed with the slow-building ballad “Staring at the Sun,” leaving a crowd wondering where to take the dancing.
The All-American Rejects should feel a healthy measure of acceptance given the massive crowd they drew at the Ponce stage. For a band without new music the last 13 years, there’s no doubt that fans love nostalgia, and the band demonstrated their joy in delivering just that, pretending even that they had a time machine to go back to 2003.
Opening with one of their biggest hits, “Swing, Swing,” the massive crowd was locked in to this familiar pop-punk/emo band. The band worked through a great series of fan favorites, closing with a high level of crowd participation with “Move Along” and “Gives You Hell.” Great rocking set!
Cage the Elephant. Johnny Franck. Pyrotechnics. No more needs to be said. Other than… Bilmuri notwithstanding, you should have been there if you weren’t.
Also a note about Bilmuri at the Criminal Records stage which gathered a massive crowd of their own. Bilmuri has recently gained notoriety as a live act after opening a tour with the arena metal act Sleep Token. The show featured down-tuned guitars, pop hooks, breakdowns, and of course, a highly active mosh pit. The band is largely the brainchild of singer and guitarist Johnny Franck who brought a silly personality to the music by talking and joking with the audience to balance the aggressive guitars and music. This played out with the crowd singing along with the pop hooks and then banging their heads in rhythm during the breakdowns. Rated best show of the day by Brian who was often wherever I wasn’t.
The Black Keys live somewhere in your ears. You’ve heard them. Maybe it was the basic drums/guitar sound of their earlier years, or the more musically expansive sounds of their more recent ones. Singer guitarist Dan Auerbach has been a hot commodity for producer work because he knows what sounds good, and the band’s live performance was stellar, with long improvised blues solos and Carney pounding the drums throughout. If Cage the Elephant were hyperactive, The Black Keys were the sonic goodness of quality earbuds… except they were live. The band favored songs from their breakout albums Brothers and El Camino, but the more recent “Weight of Love” was a personal favorite.
If there was a contest for T-shirt fandom, My Chemical Romance won the weekend, with the largest Shaky crowd of the three nights and few calling it an early night. The band put on a great performance, with staging, voice and youth potions that easily could carry memories to 20 years prior. Costumes, pyro, the entirety of “Welcome to the Black Parade,” staying in character, audience participation (“Disenchanted”) and the closer of “Helena” delivered everything fans of a not-seen-often-enough band could ask.
Deftones was Friday’s headliner, evidenced by a legion of fans wearing their T-shirts. Deftones has recently experienced a surge in popularity as their songs have ripped through TikTok and found new generations of listeners, recently charting old songs, but a band of 37 years brings plenty of fans that have carried through since their heydey.
Their moody Nu Metal alternated between chugging riffs on songs like “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and melodic singing on songs like “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” off their 1997 album Around the Fur. Singer Chino Moreno hit some high notes on “Digital Bath.” The band closed with “Cherry Waves” which gained notoriety on TikTok and an old chugging song called “7 Words” from their first album.
Vocalist Chino Morena remains a super active frontman, constantly moving across the stage to engage fans. His voice doesn’t sound the same as it did those years ago, but it could be argued that the he and the current version of the band have gotten better with age.
After the show, MARTA platforms were packed at the Midtown station. Piedmont Park has little parking in the area, and while ride-share works for some, many depend on MARTA. Be patient and prepared as MARTA once again demonstrates that major downtown events warrant reduced service.
