Music
▼ Concerts & Festivals
How the Grouch Stole X-mas @ Urban Lounge 12/07
On Dec. 7, Danksquad put it down for a sold out crowd of hip hop heads at Urban Lounge—all eager to see some of hip hop’s living legends and possible future legends. Los Raka’s took the stage first and began their set. These dudes were pretty sick despite a language barrier
Napalm Flesh – Live Excursions, Best Of and Damned Good...
My review queue has a wealth of quality live DVDs, CDs and “Best of” albums, all of which are reviewed here for your reading pleasure. Live albums, concert/documentary DVDs and best of collections can be fun, but sometimes you get a stinkpot live production or a not so “best of” collection. Here’s my attempt to weed the good from the bad. Also included is a rundown of upcoming shows and some blog exclusive grind CD reviews! … read more
Spoek Mathambo @ W Lounge
It took a lot to get Mr. Mathambo’s hype-heavy mash up of retro-futurist electronic music filtered through the cultural battlefield of post-apartheid Johannesburg to Salt Lake City. In fact, it took a superfecta of nightlife/fashion promoters to persuade Mathambo and Mshini Wam to make a pit-stop along I-80 to our dusty little spot on the map. … read more
Small Black at Kilby Court 11/12
As a space heater warmed up the Kilby garage, crowd-pleasing local opener The Heavens and the Earth (aka producer Matt McMurray) came onstage behind an impressive array of electronics hooked together with a grippe of colorful cables. As he started playing a whooshing synth pad, I anticipated a set of Tangerine Dream worship. Then he hit the crowd with a beat and got everyone moving. … read more
Napalm Flesh: A Week of Swedish Black Metal-Watain & Marduk
This week’s blog dissects and gives a rundown of last week’s goings on with the Watain tour and Marduk shows in Salt Lake City, both big shows from gigantic Swedish black metal bands. You should have been in attendance for at least one of the gigs—if not, you missed out on some evil doing black metal. Also is a rundown of this week’s shows, and another batch of blog exclusive CD reviews as well as some choice reviews from fellow SLUG writer Andrew Roy. … read more
The Hold Steady @ In the Venue
The Hold Steady had played Salt Lake City on their two previous tours, both times packing the Urban Lounge to near (or even past) capacity. So much had changed since then. Would they even try to recapture the old magic, or would this be a completely new direction for this Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minnesota group of musicians? Any lingering concerns were quickly put to rest when guitarist Tad Kubler ripped into the first song. … read more
Phantogram w/ Josiah Wolf @ Kilby 10.18
Walking up to Kilby Court on Monday night, I saw a crowd standing outside the door. When I got closer, I realized it was the line to get in. The show sold out, seemingly because both Josiah Wolf and Phantogram were a big draw, even though the two bands touring together made no musical sense. … read more
Napalm Flesh: Titans United – Slayer/Megadeth/Anthrax
This week’s Napalm Flesh metal blog includes a full review of the Slayer/Megadeth/Anthrax concert that happened on Tuesday, Oct. 19, along with a veritable feast of upcoming shows listed in the calendar as well as blog exclusive CD reviews from Children of Technology, Dawn of Ashes, Hail of Bullets and Unsun. … read more
Atmosphere @ In the Venue on 10.02
Slug’s performances have never let me down, being able to see Blueprint and Grieves open for him makes it even better. I arrived slightly late to avoid the prepubescent onslaught of crowds. Although I’ve always enjoyed Atmosphere, the experience has undergone some massive changes since the early days. … read more
Dead Prez @ Urban Lounge
On recorded tracks, Dead Prez sound like they are going to stick me up and tie me to a stop sign. You can imagine how I felt when one of these nice gents shook my hand—I was star struck. Nice guys. Their set was filled with bangers, knowledge dropping and the latest dance craze: the honky. … read more