It’s been nearly 42 years since my husband and I got “So Caught Up in You” about each other after he hitched a ride on the back of a motorcycle with his friend who was tagging along with some of my high school friends to attend a 38 Special concert at Shippensburg University, where I was then a junior.
We both had other love interests before the concert, but after it, we did more than “Hold On Loosely” to one another. If these song titles from the 1980s Southern Rock Band mean nothing to you, take a quick trip down memory lane on Spotify to see how young love might blossom out of them.
Needless to say, concerts and music have become the backbone of our marriage. Although our musical tastes have diverged more in recent decades (I prefer singer-songwriter, alternative folk-rock genres, he prefers hard rock and metal), we both still love live music.
I chose to celebrate my 50th birthday with a family trip in our VW Eurovan to Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN, where the headliners that year were Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, and the Beach Boys. Funny how some things don’t change. Twelve years later, the Chilis are still headlining.
The best part about music festivals is that multiple stages offer acts at the same time allowing festivalgoers to spread out in large open areas on blankets, or to stand, dance and lounge about.
Firefly, in Dover, DE, is one of those festivals where you can do all of the above. My husband, daughter and I camped at Firefly playing beer games with the young kids camping beside us. My husband and I returned on our own in 2016.
This time, the young kids who pulled in beside us late at night struggled to put up their tent. They kept their headlights aimed on the tent, but soon their SUV battery died. So, my husband played Dad and jumped their vehicle, then helped them put up their tent. They used the car to keep their phones charged, but never started the engine to keep the battery charged and killed their battery another time, requiring another jump. Because my husband was so good-natured about helping them, they invited us to share drinks and games. Nearly a year later, a dozen roses showed up at my house. They were from the parents of these kids, thanking us for taking care of their kids at the music festival.
It's been eight long years, and although we’ve been to many concerts since then, we decided it was time for another music festival. Listening to a cover band play a Weezer song made us fondly recall seeing their excellent set at Firefly and prompted us to Google Weezer concerts. I discovered they were doing two music festivals, then heading to Europe before returning stateside in the fall. We looked up the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta where they were scheduled to play on May 4 and loved the lineup.
How exciting! A music festival someplace new and exotic for us – and even better, unlike the muddy Bonnaroo experience where porta potties overflowed, and the still-roughing it atmosphere of Firefly, the Shaky Knees festival was being held in a downtown city park, and lodging in a real hotel or Airbnb would replace camping unless … . Even better, my husband had a med school friend who not only lived in Atlanta, but lived within walking distance of Central Park where the festival would be held.
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More than my knees were shaking!
The festival started off hot and humid. I took a beach towel to spread in the grass and for the first few acts, my husband and I lounged lazily listening to Ray Bull, Del Water Gap, Metric, and The Revivalists. The vibe was relaxed, and we had room to spread out. After that, forget it. People started cramming into the park that featured four stages with two bands playing at each time slot until the headliner came on at 9:30.
At 6:30, when Young the Giant took one stage, people started pushing together on the grass at the stage below waiting for Interpol at 7:30. Because this was the main stage where Noah Kahan would go on at 9:30, we decided we needed to claim our turf early. Four hours of standing in pretty much one spot proved to be a foot crusher, but Noah Kahan’s ballads and passion helped to soothe. The heat was still fierce, and Kahan was drenched in sweat soon into his hour-and-a-half set that had the crowd singing along.
Our aching feet were saved when our friend’s college-aged daughter came to our rescue with a ride home from the show. She had also been there, but had parked a car about a half-mile away. Relief for the aging parents!
After more than nine hours at the venue the first day, we decided to go later the next two days. We skipped Saturday’s early acts, and got there in time for Royal Blood, The Offspring, Girl in Red, Queens of the Stone Age, and finally Weezer – the whole reason we had discovered Shaky Knees. With his nerdy accountant vibe, frontman Rivers Cuomo displayed great vocals and guitar prowess on oodles on hits including “Say It Ain’t So,” “Island in the Sun,” “Buddy Holly,” “Beverly Hills” and the newer “All My Favorite Songs.”
Day three, and we were dragging a bit. We slept in, ate a nice lunch with neighbors on the back patio, and then our husbands headed out so they could hear The Struts. Jen and I joined her neighbors for Cinco de Mayo margaritas. Smart move. Just before we planned to leave to get there by 5:30 to hear Billy Idol, the skies opened up with thunder, lightning, and pelting rain. About a half hour later, it eased up, we hitched a ride, and arrived for Billy Idol’s last two songs, dry T-shirts in tow for our drenched husbands. We kept our spots on the crowded field to listen afar to Portugal the Man up on the next stage as we waited for the Foo Fighters to close out the festival. I’ve seen them before, and I love their hits, but I forgot just how hard they rock and how much Dave Grohl screams. This was an edgy finish to the festival.
The lineup was fantastic and the backdrop of downtown Atlanta was gorgeous, but Central Park was a bit small for as many people as were crammed into it. With just four stages and all similar genres of music, the crowds were always concentrated. Other music festivals seem to spread things around a bit more, but I’d still rate Shaky Knees as an overall great experience.
Many more music festivals
It's not too late to throw a music festival into the summer plans with many still taking place all across the country. Some shows with big names include the Chicago Blues Festival, the world’s largest free blues festival, from June 6-9, featuring Buddy Guy and Shemekia Copeland. The Governors Ball Music Festival is a premiere New York City event from June 7-9 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park featuring headliners Post Malone, The Killers, Sza, and more. Bonnaroo will be held June 13-16, and joining the Red Hot Chilis as headliners are Pretty Lights, Post Malone, and Fred Again along with too many other acts to list. Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival visits multiple cities in multiple states including a stop at Hersheypark Stadium on July 7, which will feature Willie Nelson & Family, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant, Allison Krause, and Celisse.
A festival exists somewhere in the country to rock any music genre desire, including bluegrass at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival from Aug. 15-18. One of the original music festivals (starting in 1984) takes place each year just a short drive away at venues all around Bethlehem. MusikFest 2024 runs from Aug. 2-11 and includes performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Greta Van Fleet, and Ludacris. A full list of festivals is available at https://www.musicfestivalwizard.com/festival-guide/us-festivals/page/10/
Other Hersheypark Stadium concerts include Stevie Nicks on June 15; Hootie & the Blowfish, June 28; Justin Timberlake, July 4; Janet Jackson with Nelly, July 6; Foo Fighters, July 23; Journey and Def Leppard, July 25; Five Finger Death Punch, Aug. 2; New Kids on the Block, Aug. 3; Green Day, Aug. 10; Creed, Aug. 23; Pitbull, Aug. 24; and Pink, Oct. 1. Giant Center and the Hershey Theatre also offer several shows this summer. For more information, go to https://www.hersheyentertainment.com/hershey-theatre/
Harrisburg University’s Summer Concert Series includes shows at Riverfront Park in Harrisburg by Jenny Lewis (June 21), Fleet Foxes (June 23), Black Pumas (July 25), and Orville Peck (July 28). More info is available at https://concertseries.harrisburgu.edu/summer-series/
Other shows sponsored by HU include shows at XL Live in Harrisburg by Kingfish on June 26, Charlie Crocker on July 13, and Mat Kearney on Oct. 2.
Other summer shows at XL Live include The Dave Matthews Tribute Band on June 7, Shamekia Copeland on June 14, Xavier Rudd on June 22, a Hometown Heroes Guitar Pull concert featuring George Birge, Hailey Whitters, Drew Baldridge, and Larry Fleet on July 10, and Hawthorne Heights on Sept. 13. More info at https://www.xlhbg.com
The Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center also has a full lineup starting with Big Wreck on June 4; The Menzingers, June 6; Easton Corbin, June 7; No Mana, June 7; The Living Tombstone, June 13, Kurt Vile & The Violators, June 17; The Way Down Wanderers, June 21, GZA & Kota The Friend, June 22; Bodybox, June 25; University Drive, June 26; Alexana: Trilogy Tour, June 28; Michael Hoffer BDay Bash, June 29; and many more all summer. Check out the schedule at https://www.harrisburgarts.com
