The Strokes
The band that rebooted New York rock — a deep catalog of deadpan cool, still untouchable live when the engine catches.
Shaky Knees 2026 Lineup
Atlanta's rock festival in Piedmont Park — three days of guitars, from garage legends to hardcore's new kings.
About Shaky Knees 2026
Shaky Knees is Atlanta's rock festival, full stop — three September days in Piedmont Park where the bill runs from garage-rock legends to hardcore's new kings and the skyline does the backdrop work. The 2026 lineup is a guitar lover's fever dream: The Strokes, Gorillaz, and Twenty One Pilots up top; Pavement, LCD Soundsystem, and Wu-Tang Clan in the canon slots; reunions from Minus the Bear, The Rapture, and Jet; and enough emo and punk (Jimmy Eat World, Knocked Loose, Taking Back Sunday) to keep every generation's neck sore. At 54 acts it's the most walkable of the big Southern festivals — you can actually see most of what you want.
Expect rock, indie rock, alt-rock and indie across 54 acts.
The headliners
- The Strokes — The band that rebooted New York rock — a deep catalog of deadpan cool, still untouchable live when the engine catches.
- Twenty One Pilots — Genre-agnostic arena duo — rap, ukulele, and existential dread with a devoted Clique, lore deep enough for a wiki.
- Gorillaz — Damon Albarn's animated universe — a genre-omnivorous hits machine and guest-star carousel, two decades of cartoon cover for some of pop's best songwriting.
Up-and-comers to catch early
- Sir Chloe — Sultry, minimalist indie rock — 'Michelle' and a knack for menace.
- Hotel Fiction — Athens dream-pop-rock duo with soaring piano bones.
- Old Mervs — Perth duo — punchy, sunburnt indie rock.
- The Two Lips — Atlanta indie-pop on the rise.
- garbagebarbie — Scuzzy internet-age alt-pop.
- Psychedelic Porn Crumpets — Perth psych mayhem — riffs like a waterslide through a lava lamp.
Other acts worth planning around
- Danny Elfman — Oingo Boingo's madman turned Burton's composer — a berserk orchestral-rock spectacle.
- Wu-Tang Clan — The greatest rap crew ever assembled — bring the ruckus to Piedmont Park.
- LCD Soundsystem — The dance-punk philosopher kings — 'All My Friends' remains the great festival closer.
- The Prodigy — Firestarters, still — the UK's rave-punk institution hits harder than bands half their age.
- Pavement — The slacker-rock canon itself — crooked rain and all.
- Minus the Bear — Seattle's finger-tapping math-rock heroes, reunited — precision with a cocktail in hand.
- Geordie Greep — black midi's frontman gone salsa-prog lounge-lizard — The New Sound is deranged brilliance.
The lineup by day
- Friday, September 18: The Strokes, Turnstile, Fontaines D.C., Geese, Danny Elfman, Hot Mulligan + 5 more
- Saturday, September 19: Twenty One Pilots, Pierce The Veil, The Prodigy, Pavement, Jimmy Eat World, Blood Orange + 17 more
- Sunday, September 20: Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Wu-Tang Clan, Knocked Loose, Modest Mouse, Santigold + 14 more
Shaky Knees 2026 lineup FAQ
When is Shaky Knees 2026?
September 18–20, 2026 — Friday through Sunday.
Where does Shaky Knees take place?
Piedmont Park, in the heart of Atlanta.
Who is headlining Shaky Knees 2026?
The Strokes, Gorillaz, and Twenty One Pilots.
How many acts are playing Shaky Knees 2026?
54 acts across three days — the most watchable-in-one-weekend bill of the big Southern festivals.
What days do specific acts play?
Every act's day is already on this page — expand the full lineup below or check the day-by-day breakdown.
How do I figure out which of the 54 acts I'd actually like?
Tell the finder at the top of this page a few bands you love — it'll match you with your must-see sets, with reasons why.
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Going to Shaky Knees 2026? Get tickets ↗
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Shaky Knees full lineup
Turnstile
Hardcore's joyful crossover kings — dreamy interludes, stage dives, total communion, and a crowd that moves as one.
Fontaines D.C.
Dublin's poet-punks grown into arena-scale alt-rock — 'Romance' made them era-defining, swagger and melancholy in equal Irish measure.
Geese
Unhinged Brooklyn art-rock — yelping, swaggering, and critically adored, like the Stones reassembled by art students mid-fever.
Danny Elfman
Oingo Boingo's madman turned Tim Burton's composer — a berserk orchestral-rock spectacle that mashes film scores into art-punk chaos.
Hot Mulligan
Midwest emo's chaotic favorites — screamed choruses, absurd song titles, real feelings, and a crowd that knows every word including the yelps.
Snow Strippers
Lo-fi electroclash duo — distorted synths and detached vocals for the afterparty, Detroit cool for the post-everything generation.
Ben Howard
Moody English guitar-folk — from the campfire anthems of 'Every Kingdom' to gorgeous, murky experimentalism, following his own quiet obsessions rather than the charts.
Alice Phoebe Lou
Berlin-via-Cape Town dream-folk — honeyed, unhurried songs that grew from street-performance beginnings into a quietly devoted worldwide fanbase.
GoldFord
Gravel-and-honey soul-folk — 'Walk With Me' warmth, stomp-and-clap swells built for arms-around-strangers moments, gospel-warm and stadium-ready.
Cartel
Atlanta pop-punk lifers — 'Chroma' still hits like 2005, a front-to-back scene classic that never needed a follow-up to justify the devotion.
Twenty One Pilots
Genre-agnostic arena duo — rap, ukulele, and existential dread with a devoted Clique, lore deep enough for a wiki.
Pierce The Veil
San Diego post-hardcore romantics enjoying a massive TikTok-era second act — the scene's most swooned-over comeback.
The Prodigy
Firestarters, still — the UK's rave-punk institution hits harder than bands half their age, three decades of menace intact.
Pavement
The slacker-rock canon itself — crooked rain and all, reunion sets played with the same shrug that made them legends.
Jimmy Eat World
Emo's steadiest hands — The Middle of every festival singalong for 25 years, and a catalog of deep cuts that hits just as hard.
Blood Orange
Dev Hynes's velvety art-R&B — '80s soul textures, jazz chords, and quiet heartbreak from one of pop's most sought-after collaborators.
Peach Pit
Chewed-bubblegum indie pop — jangly, wry, effortlessly likable, with more guitar firepower live than the records suggest.
Taking Back Sunday
Long Island emo royalty — mic-swinging catharsis, twenty-plus years deep, 'MakeDamnSure' still a communal throat-shred, and yes, the mic still swings.
Minus the Bear
Seattle's finger-tapping math-rock heroes, reunited — precision with a cocktail in hand, glassy tapping and grooves that sneak up dancing.
Sir Chloe
Sultry, minimalist indie rock — 'Michelle' and a knack for menace, restraint used like a weapon.
The Rapture
DFA dance-punk originators — 'House of Jealous Lovers' still detonates a field, cowbell and all, dance-punk history played live.
Congress the Band
Southern rock grit on the Saturday bill.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Perth psych mayhem — riffs like a waterslide through a lava lamp, prolific and twice as loud live.
Geordie Greep
black midi's frontman gone salsa-prog lounge-lizard — 'The New Sound' is deranged brilliance, virtuoso sleaze played with total commitment.
Elio Mei
Rising indie voice on the Saturday undercard.
Villanelle
Rehash
Fuzzy garage-punk on the Saturday undercard.
Rum Jungle
The Inspector Cluzo
French farmer-rockers (literally — they raise geese) with a riff-heavy two-man wallop — sustainable agriculture and stadium riffs, one operation.
Old Mervs
Perth duo — punchy, sunburnt indie rock in the great Australian garage tradition, mates-first energy and hooks to match.
Fat, Evil Children
Exactly what the name promises — feral undercard punk.
Hotel Fiction
Athens dream-pop-rock duo with soaring piano bones — big-sky melodies from the college-rock capital, swelling choruses with dream-pop shimmer.
Sophie's Body
Art-leaning indie rock on the Saturday bill.
Gorillaz
Damon Albarn's animated universe — a genre-omnivorous hits machine and guest-star carousel, two decades of cartoon cover for some of pop's best songwriting.
LCD Soundsystem
The dance-punk philosopher kings — 'All My Friends' remains the great festival closer, and James Murphy its most self-aware master of ceremonies.
Wu-Tang Clan
The greatest rap crew ever assembled — bring the ruckus to Piedmont Park, W hands in the air.
Knocked Loose
Kentucky hardcore at Grammy scale — pure, disciplined violence (musically speaking), the genre's unlikeliest mainstream breakthrough.
Modest Mouse
Lonesome crowded-west lifers — Isaac Brock's yelp is still an institution, and 'Float On' still floats.
Santigold
Genre-collapsing alt-pop pioneer — 'L.E.S. Artistes' to now, always ahead, new wave and dancehall in one voice.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Melodic-rap architects — the first to make harmony singing and double-time flow one seamless thing, with 'Tha Crossroads' still landing like a hymn.
Coheed and Cambria
Sci-fi concept-rock saga with arena hooks — 'Welcome Home' indeed, the Amory Wars mythology powering some of modern prog's biggest singalongs.
Jet
'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' — Aussie garage swagger, reunited, with enough riff-rock singles to keep the tank full.
OK Go
The treadmill-video geniuses — power pop with engineering-degree stagecraft, confetti physics included, and songs that hold up without the treadmills.
Fcukers
American Hi-Fi
'Flavor of the Weak' and a catalog of crunchy Y2K pop-rock — still flying the flannel, with the TRL-era hooks fully intact.
The Two Lips
Atlanta indie-pop on the rise — bright hooks with local-scene momentum.
Violet Grohl
Yes, Dave's daughter — and a genuinely arresting voice striking her own path, closer to torch song than stadium rock.
Cardinals
BIG SPECIAL
Porch Light
Warm-hearted indie folk on the Sunday bill.
Showing Teeth
Snarling young punk energy on the Sunday undercard.
garbagebarbie
Scuzzy internet-age alt-pop.
Songs For Kids
The Songs for Kids Foundation's all-star showcase — Atlanta's musicians playing for the kids they serve, and the feel-good set of the weekend.