Not only is the Shaky Knees Festival the royal court of indie music festivals, but the late night shows are sure to be a blast for all you night owls and super-partiers. So we did you a solid and put together an itinerary to help you figure out the easiest way to maneuver the late shows after all the excitement of Friday and Saturday.
Obviously, you have plenty of options so you can’t really go wrong, but here are our plans:
Night One [Friday, May 9th]
We’re big fans of The National, so we’re definitely planning on hanging around the Peachtree Stage on Friday night until they wrap around 11:15 p.m. From there, our first stop will be The EARL for The Black Cadillacs at 11:30 p.m. Catching a ride with Lyft/Uber/Taxi will probably be your best bet and, depending on traffic, you should make to The EARL just in time to catch their show.
After that, we’ll be heading back toward Atlantic Station to Vinyl @ Center Stage for an ultra-chill end to Day One with Roadkill Ghost Choir at 12:30 a.m. If you parked in or around the Atlantic Station parking deck, Vinyl @ Center Stage is walking distance to your car- making it a great last stop before you disappear into the night.
On the other hand, if you’re not planning on sticking around for The National on Friday, we recommend grabbing some grub nearby before kicking off your late night show-going at Center Stage with Bombus at 9:30pm and/or King Dude at 10:15 p.m. If you’re feeling the vibe at Center Stage, you could hang there around for Ghost at 11:15 p.m. and then hop over to Vinyl @ Center Stage for Roadkill Ghost Choir to end the night.
If you feel like exploring, we suggest making your way over to Terminal West for a short show from Cloud Control at 11 p.m. After that, you could call a Lyft/Uber and easily make any of the other 11 p.m. shows (we’ll be heading over to The EARL for The Black Cadillacs at 11:30 p.m.). From there, you’ll be able to make any of the 12:30 a.m. shows. To keep it fresh make your way to Masquerade for Deer Tick‘s 12:30 a.m. show.
Once you’re sufficiently full of music, you’ll be starving because you’ve probably attempted to survive on King of Pops the entire day, so you should end the night with some vegan tacos at R. Thomas before grabbing a ride home and snuggling into your cozy bed.
Night Two [Saturday, May 10th]
The late night shows on Saturday are jam-packed with what’s sure to be some excellent performances, so we really had to narrow it down. (If only we could teleport, we’d see them all!)
Modest Mouse will end Day Two at the Peachtree Stage around 11 p.m., which should give you enough to time to make any of the late night shows starting at 11:30 p.m. We’re thinking our first stop will be Masquerade for Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun.
After that, we’ll be catching a ride with Lyft or Uber bringing us to Terminal West for Lord Huron at 12:30 a.m. where we’ll be lulled into a perfect dreamy state, which will obviously put you in the mood for some sugary donuts and iced coffee. Thus, your last stop of the night will surely be Happy Donuts in East Atlanta (open 24 hours) before you make your way to your home/hotel room.
Some Protips
Protip #1: If you’re using MARTA to get around, please keep in mind that most of the trains stop running around 1:30 a.m. If you need a ride to your home/hotel, you can request a Lyft, Uber, or taxi.
Protip #2: Don’t drink and drive. Lyft and Uber are pretty much always running. Be sure to have both the Lyft and Uber apps downloaded on your smartphone before you start your day so you don’t end up stranded. You’ll need an email address and a valid credit card number to use them.
For more information about the lineup, venues, and ticket prices, please visit the official Shaky Knees website.
