PREVIEW: Art Seen ATL Shares Their Must-See Artists at Shaky Knees 2026
From legacy favorites to future headliners, the ASA staff reveals who they're most excited for at this year's edition of the city's favorite festival
It’s official: we’re one week out from Shaky Knees! Atlanta’s favorite rock fest is right around the corner, and fans are counting down the hours until Piedmont Park opens its stages and gates. This year’s lineup is stacked, to say the least, and audiences are already struggling to decide which sets to see. Fortunately, you can’t go wrong either way, but here are some recs from the Art Seen ATL Team:
TURNSTILE
After their return to spotlight with last year’s NEVER ENOUGH, Baltimore’s hardcore dream-pop superstars Turnstile will be tearing it up at the Piedmont Stage opening day. Their festival sets have often been the highlight of most attendees this year, with insane videos of their stage setup, crowd control, and of course, the moshpits. Since they skipped our city on last year’s tour, ATL will finally get to experience tracks like “SUNSHOWER,” “BIRDS,” and “LOOK OUT FOR ME” at a fest that feels just like home for them. You can hopefully catch me crowd-surfing during “MYSTERY” if I’m lucky. -Mikey Smith (Co-Editor)
GEESE
“He intrigues me like the little brother of an ex,” one meme quotes of a serene selfie of frontman Cameron Winter. That familiarity works heavily in their favor: Geese fever has swept the world. A Gen Z outfit for the ages, this ever-evolving quartet solidified themselves as rock legends with 2025’s Getting Killed. Winter’s Rufus Wainwrightian crooning lends itself perfectly to ballads like “Au Pays Du Cocaine,” while he slides easily into sharper edged numbers like “Trinidad,” fitting if you want to mosh, or cry, or both. No one set is the same, from surprise covers of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” to snippets of the Glee version of “Don’t Stop Believin’” filtered through their amps. Geese is an act you have to see to believe, making them unmissable at this year’s festival. -Syd Stanley (Featured Contributor)
FCUKERS
Fcukers is a house duo that brings the vibes of Magdalena Bay mixed with Slayyyter. Each track has A beat that you can bump to while also appreciating the fantastic production they put into each song. Their debut album, Ö, features songs like “L.U.C.K.Y.” and “if you wanna party, come over to my house,” which are DJ Pop blends created by fusing both of the members’ mixes onto the same track. They recently got their feature on Rolling Stone’s “Feature 25” list, which solidifies their groundbreaking history in the electro-pop world. -Noah De Los Rios (Crew Member)
GEORDIE GREEP
The former black midi frontman has not slowed down since the release of his 2024 jazz rock concept album, The New Sound. Consistently touring around the world, Greep is back in Atlanta for a Saturday set at Shaky Knees (as well as a late night show at Vinyl!). I was lucky to see his Terminal West performance last January, and it was crazier than anyone there could’ve anticipated with multi-minute solos, jam sessions, and passionate vocals complemented by his signature East London accent. Make sure to get to this one early for a good spot as I guarantee it will fill up quick. -MTS
VIOLET GROHL
Violet Grohl, daughter of Dave Grohl, has placed herself into the rock music scene with her debut album Be Sweet To Me. Her genre-bending sound is similar to those of early Paramore and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and her top track on Spotify, “Bug In The Cake,” is a rock-grunge metaphor how things look fine, until you look beneath the surface. -NDLR
ALICE PHOEBE LOU
Ethereal may be a now overused term in the indie scene, but if anyone embodies it, it’s Alice Phoebe Lou. Laced with a sort of future-nostalgia, her music feels as if it’s maybe coming to you from a dream or delivered via prophetic vision. Either way, these songs set out to cast a spell over her audience and make for a performance full of hypnotic, arresting, indie folk. You’re likely to be transfixed—but, like Lou says in her hit 2020 single “Witches,” “Just don’t try and save me/ ‘Cause I don’t wanna be saved.” -SMS
OK GO
I’m still kicking myself for missing this group’s show at The Eastern this past December, so they’re towards the top of my must-sees for the festival. From what I’ve seen, their next-level creativity as seen in their music videos and album promo has carried on into their concerts. Their vibe also fits the bill quite well even in an undercard with an abrasive edge. What OK Go offers is exactly the kind of palette cleanser for a day ahead of back-to-back sets with Wu-Tang and Knocked Loose. I am very curious to see what beautiful chaos they can contain in a single Shaky Knees set. But whatever it is, I’m sure that I’ll be grooving along on Sunday. -MTS
SANTIGOLD
Electric, endearing, and defiant, Santigold’s work has persisted with unforgettable hits like “Lights Out,” “L.E.S Artistes,” and “Disparate Youth.” Songs that once defined the indie sleaze era and have now evolved into bonafide genre classics, bangers begged to be heard at maximum volume. In recent years, she’s been namedropped on Beyonce’s “Break My Soul (The Queens Remix),” featured on Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA, and released her fabulous fourth record Spirituals. Don’t miss out on Santigold's Sunday performance for what's sure to be a once in a lifetime set from one of the greatest to ever do it. -SMS
THE PRODIGY
Arguably, the greatest conflict for this year’s lineup is the Saturday slot leading up to the headliner: Pavement vs. The Prodigy. You can’t go wrong either way, but as of this writing, I’m definitely leaning towards the latter for three reasons. 1) It’s the group’s first show in the city since 1998 (outside of a cancelled date due to the untimely death of band member Keith Flint). 2) They’ve been lauded as one of the best touring festival sets ever. 3) It’s The Prodigy at Shaky Knees. Who isn’t interested in seeing what shenanigans they’ve got up their sleeve? -MTS
Check out the full Shaky Knees 2026 Lineup HERE!
