Stevie Nicks, Run The Jewels, The Strokes Top Atlanta’s Shaky Knees For October 2021

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Stevie Knees
Atlanta’s Shaky Knees, set for October 2021, will be headlined by The Strokes, Run The Jewels and Stevie Nicks, pictured here performing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in March 2019.

Shaky Knees became the latest festival typically held in late spring or early summer to announce a fall 2021 event as live music returns in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Stevie Nicks, Run The Jewels and The Strokes will headline the festival, slated to take place in Atlanta’s Central Park on Oct. 22-24, a departure from its traditional early May calendar slot.

Other noteworthy bookings for the event include St. Vincent (who revealed a headlining tour of her own earlier on Wednesday), Mac DeMarco, Alice Cooper, Portugal. The Man, Modest Mouse, Jay Electronica, Ty Segall & Freedom Band, Orville Peck, Living Colour, Dominic Fike and recent Pollstar cover stars Phoebe Bridgers and Arlo Parks.

Courtesy Shaky Knees – Knee Deep
Atlanta’s Shaky Knees will be topped in 2021 by Stevie Nicks, Run The Jewels and The Strokes.

All three Shaky Knees headliners will headline other U.S. fests this fall: Stevie Nicks (California’s BottleRock, Texas’ Austin City Limits), Run The Jewels (Chicago’s Riot Fest) and The Strokes (Miami’s III Points, San Francisco’s Outside Lands).

In 2019, the last year it was held, Shaky Knees was topped by Tame Impala, Beck, Cage the Elephant and Incubus. It’s 2020 event was set to be headlined by The Black Keys, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Strokes. Along with The Strokes, the 2021 lineup features several other artists who were booked for Shaky Knees’ 2020 edition, including Portugal. The Man, Bridgers, Segall and Peck.

Single-day and weekend passes for Shaky Knees go onsale today at 1 p.m. ET.

In late 2019, C3 Presents, which promotes Shaky Knees, announced the cessation of electronic-themed sister event Shaky Beats and the return – ultimately nixed due to COVID – of the country-themed Shaky Boots, both also held in Atlanta’s Central Park.

With its 2021 announcement, Shaky Knees continues an industry-wide trend that has seen fests such as Bonnaroo and Outside Lands moving later in the year to adapt to a summer season truncated on the front-end by the continued impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“2021, from Labor Day to Halloween, will be a mess – a beautiful mess,” predicted Gary Spivack, executive senior vice president of talent and curation at Danny Wimmer Presents, in an April interview with Pollstar.