Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
The second annual Shaky Beats Festival in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta took us on a locals journey with aptly named stages Peachtree, Piedmont, and Ponce de Leon, continuing the tradition of bringing people together in a place of history and celebration.
As with Lollapalooza and other great downtown festivals, Shaky Beats embraced elements of nature intertwined with sky-scraping scenery engrossed by art, sights, and of course sounds from some of the best names in electronic music including big room, funk, electro house, tech house and beyond.
Though the smallest, the Ponce de Leon Stage packed a big punch. As a terraced stage, fans could take advantage of being down in the pit, or step it up a few levels to get that perfect vantage as you’ll see below. An intimate setting for fans to get up close and personal with acts like The Knocks, Mija, LOVDPVCK and REZZ, Ponce showed that size doesn’t always matter.
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
As one of the main arteries that runs through downtown, the main stage Peachtree also held to it’s name as well. Seated at one of the lowest points of the park, it provided the perfect inclined or amphitheater setting that could accommodate the masses, and that it did. Whether it was Girl Talk, The Chainsmokers, RL Grime, Ekali, or many others, the entire grassy knoll was filled with swaying and waving fans all weekend long, rain or shine.
Having opened our weekend at Peachtree with one of the Dirtybird founders, the Big Bird himself Claude VonStroke, a funk-filled set that included great new tracks from Dirtybird BBQ: Secret Ingredients, classic tracks “Barrump” and so many more. Although his set was early on Friday and a bit sparse to start, the birds heard their calling and filled Peachtree up by Claude’s closing.
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Our favorite daytime artist that brought the most energy, creativity, and toilet paper was without a doubt Girl Talk. Here at RaverRafting, some of us have been waiting for five years to see the Pittsburgh native Gregg Michael Gillis and he did not let us down. With his amazing production skills, we heard mixes from Feed The Animals, Night Ripper, along with fresh new tracks that incorporated his signature hip-hop sampling and unstoppable beat blending 3-4 different streams at the same time. There’s not a single other artist out there that has the ability to do such a thing. The results were amazing.
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
And as Claude VonStroke, Girl Talk, and Ekali kept the sun shining, GRiZ and Kaskade burst the night into a million colors and sounds. Our favorite Good Will Prevail maestro GRiZ along with Muzzy kept us warm throughout the night on Friday closing out with jams that had fans dancing into the night in hotel rooms from Buckhead to College Park. Love was shown, and love was spread to say the least.
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Lest we forget Kaskade on Saturday night, toying with our emotions for an hour and a half. Some are always hungry for his Redux sets, some like the classics, but we were given a taste of it all with a set that stretched back to the days of the vocalists Skylar Grey and Haley, to today’s “Secrets” with CID; it was everywhere and everything.
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Last but not least, we had the Piedmont Stage. with a backdrop of lush green, facing into a split sea of people fanning out into the park, it had the most relaxing vibe of any of the stages, with people laying out blankets and enjoying the weekend sun in-between sets. A set that made the sun shine even brighter was Illenium, a dubstep, chillstep, ambient, big room, and all of the above, he is one of the most loved rising artists from the past year or so, always bringing the feels.
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Photo Credit: Chris Lazzaro – FreedomFilmLLC.com
But our standout set of Piedmont had to be Bonobo’s live set closing out on Saturday night. The Brighton native Simon Green brought forth live vocals, emotional percussions, and just the right dash of hip-hop that had the entire crowd swooning into the night.
Photo Credit: Chris Lazzaro – FreedomFilmLLC.com
Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage
Although the weather started off a bit dreary on Friday, that never stopped the fans, artists, or the sheer energy of the festival. With a navigable setup, convenient beverage/food trucks, and art installations abound, the festival embraced it’s location, formulating an intimate vibe, in a blooming city full of culture and life. Location matters, and Shaky Beats again proves that this is the place to be.
We’d like to thank Fresh and Clean Media / C3 Presents and all of the great promoters and staff that we worked with leading up to and during the festival. They were all welcoming, accommodating, and friendly which helped not only coverage, but every single attendee as well. We’ll see you next year in the ATL!
Co-author: Brian Schultz
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