Year: 2013
Mika @ In the Venue 03.30
Usually when an artist or band opens with your favorite song of theirs, it’s all downhill from there—but, luckily for me, this was a special situation. You see, before this concert, I’d only heard about a third of Mika’s work. Which was basically the reason I’d decided to review the thing in the first place—I’d liked what I’d heard, and I wanted to hear more. So, when Mika opened with “Grace Kelly,” a fun song that’s really just a “fuck you” to record execs, I knew there was a good chance of things improving from that point. … read more
We Could Be Heroes: The Mythology of Monsters and Heroes...
Some Salt Lakers steer clear of this quaint college town, Provo, just 45 minutes south of SLC. Personally, I’m drawn to its chaste charm, its cheap food and its kind, conservatively dressed population. Furthermore, the MOA is perhaps my favorite museum in the state, partially because it’s free, partially because it boasts a variety of world-class collections of art. Its exhibits are dynamic as they are diverse. Plus, it has the absolute best gift shop of any museum I’ve ever visited. … read more
The Cave Singers @ Urban Lounge with Pollens
The last time I saw The Cave Singers was at Kilby Court, where they played a show that was both intimate and badass. It’s good to see that they’re moving into larger venues. … read more
Creature Feature: Cartel Chameleon Fenice, Public Trans
Within younger generations, drag culture is at a crossroads; our age is a chameleonic one, and post-Internet, we’re in a remarkable moment of subcultural revival. Cartel and the Bad Kids are bringing their mutant message to Salt Lake’s divided communities, straight and queer. … read more
Art | Art and Fashion | LGBTQ+
Merchandise @ Kilby Court 04.03 with Parenthetical Girls, Wet Hair
From a wash of reverb, Merchandise’s lead guitarist Dave Vassalotti strummed the opening chords of an honest pop song called “Time.” Carson Cox’s melancholic croon shone through the band’s wall of sound, peaking at (my favorite Merchandise line), “I’m really just an animal/made with human parts.” … read more
Low @ Velour 03.30
As I found a place in the venue to nest myself before Low started, a projector broadcasted an image of a timer counting down from 10 minutes on the backdrop behind the stage. This concept doubled as a convenience for power smokers and merch collectors. As it reached the final 10 seconds, the crowd began counting down out loud until the timer reached zero. Almost instantly, the lights dimmed and Parker started to play a steady locomotive rhythm, which shoehorned into the first song of the set, “Plastic Cup.” … read more
Heggy Gonzalez: Beauty Chameleon
Upon first appearance the Aveda Institute in Provo is just another hair school. Located in a strip mall the interior is lined with black salon chairs, mirrors and mannequin heads sporting various wigs for practice. … read more
Sample Tracks @ Sugar Space 04.05
Sugar Space is tucked away on 616 Wilmington Ave. in Sugarhouse, which provides for a sense of stealing away to a small mountain town, and lends her performances an intimate tone. Leah Nelson Del Porto and Cortney McGuire of fivefour kicked off the showcase with their piece, “my space is sometimes yours.” An older piece in their repertoire, “my space is sometimes yours” is honed and polished. The program previewed that the piece was devoid of musical accompaniment, which turned out to be an excellent choice, as the under-the-breath mutterings between Nelson and McGuire proved to be not only entertaining, but underpinned the conceptual content of the piece, which was negotiating space with another person and the shifting boundaries. … read more
Ivan & Alyosha with Fort Atlantic, L’anarchiste @ Kilby Court...
Interestingly enough, Ivan & Alyosha got their name from a Dostoevsky novel, which initially made me think they were all about bleak introspection on the darkness of the human soul. On the contrary, they’re very skilled at cranking out catchy melodies with sincere vocals—not stuff I usually associate with Dostoevsky. … read more
Jeff Mangum @ The Depot 04.04
Neutral Milk Hotel’s story has long ago been folded into the tapestry of indie rock legend—a songwriter with a burning vocabulary makes one beautifully haunting collection of song and memory that’s instantly called perfection, then recluses himself and dissociates from its fame, perhaps crushed with the silly fear of never writing anything one-hundredth as good. … read more