No Country’s Shaky Knees Rundown | Saturday, May 10 @ Atlantic Station, Atlanta

The Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, marks one of the first festivals of the season, and, to be honest, we’d have a hard time thinking of a better way for things to get to a start. The lineup is absolutely killer, and the change of venue this year to Atlantic Station basically guarantees this will be a fest we’ll remember for a long time. In order to help prepare ourselves (and you readers), we’ve put together our “Absolutely Cannot Miss” shows for the weekend. Yesterday, we gave you our top seven acts for Friday, and we’re back today with our most anticipated shows for Saturday, May 10. If you like what you read and you haven’t yet picked up a ticket, they’re still available here, but in order to convince yourself a little more before you drop that $169, why not check out who we’re excited to see below.

MODEST MOUSE
@ Peachtree Stage | 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM

If you’re going to this festival and haven’t made plans to see Modest Mouse, well, frankly we just don’t understand that. Despite the fact that Modest Mouse have been playing together since 1993, the eclectic band like to take time between their tours and albums to really make sure that they get things right. What this means is that fans often have to wait several years before hearing anything from these indie rockers, but that when they do decide to play around a bit or drop some new tunes, they are almost always spectacular. Modest Mouse are Saturday night’s headliner, which means nothing else will be going on during their performance, so why not stop by the Peachtree Stage and pay your respects to one of the most influential indie rock bands of the last two decades. Below, we’ve got the video for “Dramamine,” which is actually one of Modest Mouse’s older tracks, but it’s been a personal favorite of ours for a number of years now.

PORTUGAL. THE MAN
@ Piedmont Stage | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Portugal. The Man are, without a doubt, our favorite Alaskan indie rockers, though, in all honesty, we’d be a bit hard-pressed to think of another act from Wasilla, Alaska off the top of our head. Currently a five-piece, the group started playing together back in 2004 and were headlining tours across the US by 2007. However, it wasn’t until the 2009 release of The Satanic Satanist that the band really started to turn heads. By the time their last two studio efforts rolled out, Portugal were consistently charting. Their most recent record, Evil Friends, is a phenomenal effort in the indie rock/psychedelia space. Songs like “Modern Jesus” (which we’ve got embedded below for you) is both danceable and thoughtful, which is a pretty difficult juxtaposition to create. These guys are already close to the top, and we’re excited to see where they go from here.

SPOON
@ Centerstage | 12:30 AM – 2:00 AM

If you know anything about Spoon, it’s probably that this band plays a ton. Every time this quintet releases new music, they try to play as many shows as possible, which often include playing the same city a number of times (they’ve played their hometown, Austin, ten times since their last album release). It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that Spoon is actually playing two sets at Shaky Knees this year. The one we’ve highlighted here is a late night set over at Centerstage, but they’ll also be playing the Piedmont Stage on Friday, May 9th, from 8 pm – 9:15 pm. Oh yeah, and if that’s still not enough Spoon for you, they’ll be here in Music City on May 8th to play a show with Blank Range at Marathon. Yes, that’s right: you could potentially see Spoon play three nights in a row. We told you they play around a lot.

TOKYO POLICE CLUB
@ Peachtree Stage | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Not to be outdone by fellow indie rockers Spoon, Canadian rockers Tokyo Police Club will also be playing two sets at Shaky Knees. The first of these shows will take place on the Peachtree Stage at Atlantic Station at 3:00 PM, but there will also be a performance from 12:30 AM – 2:00 AM at the Masquerade’s Hell Stage. Tokyo Police Club have been playing together since 2005 and have released four studio albums since then. You’ve probably heard the track we have embedded below, “Wait Up (Boots of Danger),” as it was the lead single from Tokyo Police Club’s most successful album to date, Champ. Oh, by the way, if you won’t be at Shaky Knees, Tokyo Police Club will actually be here in Nashville on May 9th to play a show at Mercy Lounge, which means that just like Spoon, you could totally see these guys three times next weekend if you really want.

FLY GOLDEN EAGLE
@ Ponce De Leon Stage | 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM

Ah, finally: a local act! Fly Golden Eagle are an indie pop/rock quartet that call Nashville, Tennessee their hometown. The group have been together since 2007, and have released one album to date (Swagger), which they’ve been on and off touring in support of since its release back in 2011. Rumor has it that the band have finished their second album, which should hopefully see the light of day any time now. Musically, Fly Golden Eagle pull in equal parts funk, indie rock, and psychedelia; they’re heavily synth driven, though not in a cheesy way. More importantly, however, these guys know how to absolutely throw down when necessary, as evidenced by the second half of the track we have embedded below, “Take You There”.

THE APACHE RELAY
@ Peachtree Stage | 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM

Continuing on this hometown theme, the next act we’d like to highlight is Nashville based indie rockers The Apache Relay. These guys are definitely one of our favorite Nashville artist to grace the stages at Shaky Knees, and we’re excited to get yet another chance to hear their Americana tinged rock tunes live (they play around here a ton, including an upcoming July 3rd performance at the Riverfront Park downtown). Interestingly enough, The Apache Relay’s most recent album, which was self-titled, hit shelves just last week on April 22nd. The album’s lead single is “Katie, Queen of Tennessee,” which we’ve got embedded for you below. Really try to pay attention to how these guys work that classic roots sound into a more modern rock approach, as that’s definitely were they excel most.

ANDREW COMBS
@ The Vinyl @ Centerstage | 11:30 PM – 12:15 AM

Rounding out our schedule for Saturday at Shaky Knees is Nashville-by-Texas songwriter Andrew Combs. Combs is one of those songwriters that’s just utterly captivating for reasons beyond definition. Sure, his vocal tones are pristine and perfectly complimented by his relatively minimalistic guitar strums, but it seems like there must be something more to explain the power behind Combs’ tunes. They’re the kind of songs that are easy to sink into, especially on a rainy day, and we suspect that his late night performance will nicely round out the nonstop flow of energetic rock bands playing all day. You can check out one of our favorite Andrew Combs tracks, “Too Stoned to Cry,” below.