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Top 12 Sets Of Shaky Beats Festival 2019
Shaky Beats reduced from three to two days this year but this Atlanta EDM festival proved it is a competitive dog in the festival fight. Music Matters Productions collaborated with Shaky Beats to provide outstanding production this year with impressive sound, lasers, lighting, visuals, and even pyrotechnics! It appeared as if the festival listened to feedback and made improvements from last year.
One notable improvement was the green floors added to the fronts of the Peachtree and Piedmont stages! Surely it helped prevent dirt kick up, especially since shufflers were losin' it all weekends. In the nucleus of the festival lied a short art walk where artists did live paintings both days.
The stages looked and sounded better; an all-around facelift on Shaky Beats 2019. The upgrades paired with the curated lineup helped create an unforgettable Atlanta festival experience.
Here are some standout sets we caught this weekend at Central Park!
12. PAZ
The bass DJ created sPAZtic movements from the crowd opening the Peachtree Stage as he spun a mixture of tracks. In addition to his own music, he also paid homage to other artists with throwback mixes of Linkin Park’s “Numb” and his personal favorite “Firefly” by Owl City, to heavy filthier Excision songs. Many dynamics during his set ranged from Queen’s Freddie Mercury antics to rail breaking ravers and even some farce SpongeBob SquarePants action. He encouraged many emotions from love, laughter, and letting loose. Look for his future sets, you might sPAZ out too!
11. GG Magree
The female DJ was another early act holding down one of two main stages, Piedmont stage, Friday. High energy from the Deadbeats diva. Her voice is just as amazing as her mixing skills. She jumped around on the stage and had the crowd hyped to her every movement. At one point there was a gang of shuffling kitties upfront having a blast!
10. Dirt Monkey
Although it was blazing hot, I couldn’t resist monkeying around with friends to Dirt Monkey at Peachtree Stage. Hanging out up top of the Heineken bar and getting down beside the sound booth made for a great set. Perfect call putting Dirt Monkey on Peachtree Stage as he performed between two huge purple gorilla wearing sunglasses artworks. The early set felt like more than a warm up with the heavy beats and whacky visuals way before sundown.
9. ZEKE BEATS
I had no idea about ZEKE BEATS until my Bob Ross totem carrying friend was in such a hurry to see his set. The 3:00 set had high energy for a couple reasons. Ravers gave more energy since the set was under a tent at the Ponce de Leon Stage. Not to mention ZEKE BEATS was bringing some heavy hitters. His lights and visuals were also visible since the stage was covered from the sunlight. He was also one of many artists this weekend who took the time to speak with fans after his performance; solid move ZEKE BEATS!
8. Chris Lake
As many people who deny their like for H\house music, I always find them subtly moving at house shows. Chris Lake was no different. One of the purer house sets of the weekend, Chris Lake had the whole crowd moving at Piedmont Stage. It seemed fairly packed with people sitting down, shuffling, talking, foot tapping, and/or just head bobbing to the music. In short, the house DJ delivered dope background music for all scenarios happening.
7. Ekali
Ekali was another scorching set at the Peachtree Stage. Figuratively and literally; I saw a girl catch her fan on fire! Ekali definitely got the Shaky Beats memo as he mixed genres of heavy beats from rap to trap. He knows how to amp up a crowd throwing in classics like Yeezy’s “Power” and Weezy’s “A Milli”. Dope set for sure. I even found myself at the Ekali After Party at Terminal West. It was worth it to see two sets of Ekali in one day.
6. SLUMBERJACK
Definitely one of the surprise sets of the weekend. I had no idea about this Australian duo. They performed Saturday on the Criminal Records Stage. It was an awesome stage because of the intimacy between the crowd and performer. These guys came out throwing bangers. The amazement from the crowd was visible as people danced and stomped around under the shady trees. Duty called or I would have watched the entirety of their set. Keep a lookout for SLUMBERJACK.
5. Martin Garrix
Not everyone was excited to see Martin Garrix close but you wouldn’t know that from the way he closed Saturday night. One excited fan along the rail told me there was no way she was going to miss the #1 DJ in the world! He proved himself worthy of the title with his electrifying performance. Martin Garrix’s set received full range of lights, lasers, and pyrotechnics which paralleled his own excitement as he jumped up and down simultaneously DJing and pumping up the crowd. I’ll admit my expectations were exceeded from the Martin Garrix closing set.
4. Party Favor
Yes, I was having an amazing time at Galantis with their dance party atmosphere and colorful visuals but I’m glad we saw Party Favor also. It was one of few sets I saw at Ponce Stage but man was it live! His name expresses his sets for sure. I almost lost it when he played his song “Wait A Minute”. Party Favor did justice playing crunk music during his Atlanta performance. His set meshed well with the Saturday’s performances as he kept the party going under the Ponce tent. Party Favor was another badass sleeper set of the weekend!
3. Big Gigantic
Speaking of sundown, Big Gigantic held the magic hour set Friday night. Second time performers at Shaky Beats, Dominic and Jeremy played as if it were their first time in Atlanta. Not only did they bring the funk but it got a little dirty with some Snails. Sweat poured from the duos faces as they blasted stentorian sounds from their saxophone and drums playing songs from their album Brighter Future amongst other tracks. They weren’t the only ones breaking a sweat as they had assistance from a few sign language interpreters down below; mad props to those women. Classy show Big Gigantic!
2. FISHER
I had such a great time seeing my first FISHER set. One of the many Australian representatives at Shaky Beats also had the crowd moving nonstop. FISHER kept everyone dancing anticipating transitions between every song. It felt like Simon Says as many House ravers mocked FISHER doing his signature wave of the hand above his head move. I even heard a few whistles being blown throughout the set. And of course, he finished with “Losing It!"
1. Rüfüs Du Sol
Imagine this beautiful setting: the Atlanta night sky behind an illuminated Shaky Beats sign beside a talented band led by the remarkable voice of Tyrone on a vibrant stage. The Aussie trio, Tyrone, Jon, and James had an incredible set. The melodic voice of Tyrone carrying threw the night crowd paired with amazing instrumentation to intros or breakdowns of songs made for a joyous set. It was flattering to see the thousands of people dancing to the House vibes Rüfüs Du Sol were putting out. Singing along with Tyrone to personal favorites like “Sundream," “Lost in my Mind”, and “No Place” under the moonlight with friends and thousands of smiling faces will be one of my top Shaky Beats memories for a long time!
Rest assured just because I didn’t mention every artist, doesn’t mean they didn’t have amazing performances. I bounced around to several sets both days and saw great music start to finish. Props to the patrons too. Thousands of beautiful ravers also bounced around in their finest festival fashion, several people even coordinated team festival outfits. Cool, calm, and collected crowd this year for sure. The icing on the cake was the fact Mother Nature decided to be generous and held off on the rain! I heard several people say this was their favorite Shaky Beats, can’t wait to see what the next Shaky Beats entails!
Photo credit: aLIVE Coverage via Shaky Beats
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