Friday, May 20, 2016
Friday was quite the day. I headed down to Centennial Olympic Park for the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival. With beats being in the name, you guessed it, dancing was the name of the game. EDM poured through the speakers of three stages as tens of thousands of people danced through the day and into the night. Jai Wolf, AlunaGeorge, Duke Dumont and even Yeasayer got the crowd jumping before headliners Major Lazer took the stage.
For me, dancing to electronic dance music, especially drum & bass and house, was a way of life from the later part of high school through college and afterwards. I spent many late night hours on the dance floor with friends making memories I will never forget. I was swept away by nostalgia as these memories came flooding back all throughout the day. It was great to see the EDM scene alive and well in the ATL with folks who believe in Peace Love Unity Respect.
Jai Wolf performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Kelsie Bradshaw shows off her bracelets during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Jai Wolf performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Guillermo Torres (center) dances as Jai Wolf performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Arran Krantz (center) and Alexander Herman dance as Jai Wolf performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Jai Wolf performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Halina Wilusz (left) tosses her hula hoop into the air as she dances during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Kaitlyn Whalen (left), Becky Rasmussen and Tyler Adkins dance during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Thousands of people dance as Jai Wolf performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Ruth Lam (center) dances as Jai Wolf performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Anand Wilder (left) and Ira Wolf Tuton perform during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Chris Keating (right) and Ira Wolf Tuton perform during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Anand Wilder performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Christopher Berry plays the drums as Yeasayer performs on stage during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Chris Keating (right) and Ira Wolf Tuton perform during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Anand Wilder (left) and Chris Keating perform during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer performs during the first day of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Anand Wilder performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Chris Keating (right), Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand Wilder perform during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Yeasayer’s Chris Keating (center) performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
AlunaGeorge performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
AlunaGeorge performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
AlunaGeorge performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
AlunaGeorge performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
AlunaGeorge performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Rain falls as AlunaGeorge performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Duke Dumont performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Chris Newcomb (bottom left) dances as Duke Dumont performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Duke Dumont performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Jullian Darth-Faust spins glow sticks as Duke Dumont performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Duke Dumont performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Sydnee Wade (center) lifts her lazer gun in the air as she waits for Major Lazer to perform during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Major Lazer performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Mercer Murphy (center) and Mandy Carneglia (right) dance as Major Lazer performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Major Lazer performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
A personal light show as Major Lazer performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Major Lazer performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Tens of thousands of people watch Major Lazer perform during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Major Lazer performs during the first night of the Shaky Beats Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Friday, May 20, 2016.