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The first day of Shaky Knees saw an influx of people and some of the festival most sought after acts. The first act of the festival was Surfer Blood premiering songs off their new record “1000 Palms.” The mid afternoon was taken up by other newcomer bands with a mostly pop emphasis like Haerts, Tennis, Halsey, and Zella Day. The night took off with a destroying, crowdsurfing, and utterly weird set by Mac DeMarco, opened for by stoner punks WAVVES. The 6:15 slot proved to be the most conflict spot of the night, and possibly the festival, TV on the Radio, Death From Above 1979, and the Mountain Goats all going on at the same time. Semi locals Mastodon played a thrashing set to a mixture of diehard metalheads, first time festival goers, and Strokes fans who were waiting out the mosh pits for the anticipated headliners. The 8:15 time slot also forced festival goers to make difficult choices between Pixies, Brand New, and crooner James Blake. The biggest draw of Friday was headliners, The Strokes. Giving their first set of the year to a very eager and receptive audience, the band blasted through a career spanning setlist that was both refreshing and familiar. Some major highlights of the show were very rare live performances of “You Talk Way Too Much,” which hadn’t been performed since 2004, and accompaniment by Mac Demarco for the arguably the bands most popular song “Last Nite.” At the end of the set singer Julian Casablancas ran through the crowd high-fiving fans and setting the tone for an exciting and memorable festival. For more live coverage stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram accounts of the weekend.