Atlanta fans who figured Alabama Shakes were a closed chapter are getting a loud correction this week. The band is back on the road and rolling into town Friday for a headlining stop at Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park, folding brand-new material into a set built on longtime favorites. The run reunites the group after a surprise late-2024 comeback and a 2025 stretch that dusted off deep cuts alongside the fresh songs they are now putting through their paces onstage.
The Shakes are slated to hit the Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park stage at 8 p.m. Friday, with Mon Rovîa on the bill as special guest and tickets running about $77–$171. The date lands on the band’s second major tour since reuniting and follows their Shaky Knees appearance in Piedmont Park last September. Local coverage has framed the night as part hometown welcome, part live listening party for the next record taking shape, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
New songs and their themes
Frontwoman Brittany Howard and company released “American Dream” on April 10, a sharp, topical single that fires at gun violence, abortion restrictions, and mounting economic pressure. Howard has described the track as “a snapshot of what we’re living through in 2026,” and the band had already broken its silence last summer with “Another Life,” its first original song in ten years. Both tracks arrived under the group’s new deal with Island Records, part of a slow-build campaign toward a full-length LP, as reported by Pitchfork and in a press release via Island Records.
Testing songs onstage
On the current tour, the band has been sneaking at least two unreleased tracks into the set, “Tied to You” and “Feel Hope Coming,” planting them between Sound & Color-era staples to see which ones stick. Recent setlists show the new material sharing space with crowd-pleasers like “Hold On” and “Don’t Wanna Fight,” a mix the band has portrayed as a way to find out what belongs in this chapter and what can wait. Tour listings and setlist archives track those live debuts and a set that shifts slightly from night to night, according to the sites that compile the shows.
Guitarist Heath Fogg says the group has been “working on a record basically this whole time,” with the album initially eyed for a June drop and now pointed toward a summer window, “maybe an August release.” Studio sessions have involved longtime engineer Sean Everett along with contributors such as percussionist Lewis Wright, and bassist Zac Cockrell is reported to handle drums on one cut. The evolving release timeline and behind-the-scenes lineup were detailed in recent tour and studio coverage, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lineup and legal context
The current touring crew is missing founding drummer Steve Johnson, who stepped away following legal trouble that surfaced several years ago. Johnson was indicted in March 2021, and a child-abuse charge was later dismissed by a Limestone County judge in December 2021. In his place, Noah Bond has taken over drum duties on the road while the band continues to sort out studio roles and percussion on the new record. The dismissal was reported by the Associated Press, and Bond’s touring role is highlighted on his profile at Dream Cymbals, which lists him as currently touring and recording with Alabama Shakes, among other projects.
For Atlanta concertgoers, Friday’s show shapes up as both comfort food and sneak preview, with familiar anthems sitting right next to raw, still-evolving songs. With a summer LP on the horizon and festival dates piling up, this Chastain Park stop could be one of the best chances to catch the new material in the wild before it officially lands.
