Year: 2010
What I Learned About the World: Coachella 2010
I learned that a large group of young, mostly American, people can congregate and enjoy life on a basal line for three-four days and forget about the world. … read more
Ugly Duckling at Urban Lounge
Hip hop shows, as most people who have attended them in Utah will know, can be a mixed bag. The performance-oriented nature of hip hop creates an incredible burden for those on stage, while the crowd can act however it pleases. Usually, fans are there for the headlining act, and will not have heard of any of the openers. With that quick primer, let’s compare the acts who recently took the stage at the Urban Lounge to show us what hip hop’s all about. … read more
Braid: We Want to Be On Your Comp
Last month Polyvinyl remastered and reissued the four earliest Braid albums. These early discs, and the literal sea of bands spawned in their wake, are a testament to Braid’s relentless work ethic and D.I.Y drive to simply let people hear their music. I spoke to former Braid frontman Bob Nanna about the time period that these alums were produced. … read more
Death Dealers vs. Bomber Babes on May 15 2010
The Death Dealers opening chant of ‘Death Dealers, Death Dealers…Kill! Kill! Kill!’ set the tone for the second bout in the Salt City Derby Girls double header on Saturday night at the Salt Palace. The Dealers’ target for the night was the Bomber Babes, a team that is still in a rebuilding phase with many new skaters after the departure of numerous veteran skaters at the end of the 2008 season.
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Sisters of No Mercy vs. Leave It to Cleavers on...
The clock started to count down and skaters from both the Sisters of No Mercy and Leave it to Cleavers rolled up to the starting lines preparing for the first jam of the night. Friendly words, some dance moves and butt slaps were exchanged. A relaxed tone was set for the first period of the bout. … read more
Coheed & Cambria @ The Great Saltair
I watched as the techs did their instrument and sound checking and prepared the stage for the main event. And then, there it was: fog, spewing up from the stage floor. The techs scurried off the stage, the lights went black and the gigantic movie screen (set behind the stage)became illuminated. Sound began to flood my ears. The music became subtly more intense, until, at last, C&C took the stage to a frenzied crowd of devoted followers. … read more
Mono @ The Urban Lounge
Dressed in all black with nary a discernable expression of emotion on their face, guitarists Takaakira Goto and Yoda took seats on opposite sides of the stage from each other and, without a word, began the tremolo picked upswell from 2009’s Hymn to the Immortal Wind. This reverence and austerity, punctuated with moments of pure cathartic and caustic release, would define not only the hour-and-a-half long performance, but the audience’s awed hush. … read more
Fear Factory @ Club Sound
Fear Factory is one of those bands I’d do anything to see live, no matter how many times I’ve seen them before. I started listening to Fear Factory as a teenager, and despite some lackluster albums, line-up changes and even a period of being officially broken up, I’ve always been a fan for reasons that I cannot fully comprehend. … read more
Hannibal Buress plays SLC
I’m a comic in a city that really doesn’t give that much of a shit about comedy. I’m just as much to blame. I don’t go to many shows. Here in Salt Lake City we have four or five great comedy shows a year come through. That’s really not too many. We should take advantage of the few that we have. Doug Stanhope, David Cross, Tig Notaro, just to name a few we have had this year. The more people that go to these shows, the more great comics we will get in this town. The more you go to these shows, the less you’ll see some shitty open mic comic that promises the club owner he’ll bring his relatives, and his singles ward to the show.
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Serpents of the Midnight Sun: An interview with Nightbringer’s Naas...
On Tuesday June 8th the demonic occult forces that are Green Mountain Falls, Colorado’s Nightbringer will unleash their darkened black metal distortions upon Salt Lake City. Nightbringer focuses on atmospheres as much as they do direct, fast and dirge ridden guitar passages. I got the chance to ask Nightbringer’s frontman Naas Alcament a few questions to explore the depths of their music. … read more