Speedy Ortiz and Viet Cong at Shaky Knees, Atlanta, May 9, 2015

So, finally, we get to Day Two of Shaky Knees and I'll try to move things along a bit more briskly.

On Saturday, we got to the festival site (MARTA again) early enough to see any of the three opening acts (Hey Rosetta!, Field Report, and Kevin Devine & the Goddamn Band).  We had our pick, but we've already seen Field Report this year, and while we're curious to see Hey Rosetta!, we instead headed straight to the good stuff and bypassed all the active stages to get in a good position to see Massachusetts' Speedy Ortiz at the Boulevard Stage. 

We got there early enough to get a front-position right on the rail, and there was even a hint of shade for a while while we waited for the band to come on.  And as always happens, as soon as they did, and right on time at that, we completely forgot the wait and enjoyed their great set.

Speedy Ortiz play a wonderfully noisy brand of guitar-driven indie rock, showcasing Sadie Dupuis' angular playing and harmonic singing.  It was just the thing to get us going early on a Saturday afternoon

Mitski was still hanging around after her set yesterday, and watched Speedy Ortiz from backstage (while also checking her phone).

I missed Speedy Ortiz the last time they played Atlanta - a DIY set at WonderRoot that Sadie mentioned during her banter and must have been fabulous.  Saturday's set, though, was a nice surrogate for the missed performance.

After Speedy Ortiz, I made in over to the tent at the Buford Highway Stage to hear Calgary's Viey Cong, and they sounded huge.  Viet Cong play a primal form of post-punk that at times almost sounded like Swans in its pummeling intensity.

It may have been the stand-out performance of the day for me.

What a perfect one-two punch in the face to start the day: the jagged noise rock of Speedy Ortiz setting us up for the full body slam of Viet Cong.  The latter closed their set with the mighty Death, and by the end, although it was only 2:45 pm, I already felt like I had heard enough to make me capable of scaling mountains.

The day was just beginning.