Music
▼ Concerts & Festivals
The English Beat @ The Depot 02.26 with Insatiable
The English Beat’s arrival onstage provoked considerable excitement. Wasting no time, they blasted out “Rough Rider,” “Twist and Crawl” and “Hands Off She’s Mine”—thoroughly enjoyable with a nice beat, the folks to the right and left of me swayed and twisted. During this I tried managing a combination of dancing, snapping some pictures and avoiding getting my nose smashed by the back of some wanker’s head. Such juggling acts are not feasible for long periods of time. … read more
Foster Body @ Diabolical/Albatross Records 03.01 with The Circulars, Discoid...
Madison Donnelly punched out the beat to get this post-punk/hardcore–amalgam engine chugging, and the (comfortably) packed record-shop den began hopping. Banks scream-sang with wet effects that bounced around the speakers and the room like mad clowns at circus. Martin strummed angular chords that stabbed with bright tones and played brittle one-off lines that gave Foster Body’s songs their bite. … read more
San Fermin, Son Lux, L’Anarchiste @ Kilby Court 02.26
There was a lot of anticipation surrounding this show. That notion was clear when I arrived to a line of 50 or more people outside of Kilby Court waiting for the doors to open. As I waited in line, I looked a little closer at the venue that was on a “50 Best Concert Venues in America” list, last year. … read more
Jupiter Suit @ Velour 2.19 with Radio Motion, Soul Connection,...
“Our mission, when we perform, is to take down the barrier between band and audience,” Marquez said. “Sing-alongs, stomping feet, clapping hands … that’s where the magic happens.” Watching Marquez and his band is a bit of magic. Are they the tightest group in the world? No, but they are still kids, very talented kids albeit, and the polish will come. The barrier between them and their adoring fans was broken almost from the get-go. … read more
Deafheaven @ Bar Deluxe 02.15 with Subrosa
A cocksure Deafheaven took the stage and proceeded to obliterate shit, but not without some comedy. The vocalist, George Clark, is exceptionally charismatic, but he’s also humorously intense and clearly spends a lot of time on his hair. He wore leather gloves and a tight-fitted long-sleeve shirt that showed off his muscles. … read more
Pixies @ The Great Saltair 02.15 with Best Coast
The “Great” Saltair? I know, it’s old and quasi historic and hosted some soft-rock shitty bands your parents liked back when my uncles were jamming with Jimi and Janis on an airbase in Dan Nang. Whatever, though. It was Valentine’s weekend, and though I dug deep into the corners of my misanthropic being, I just couldn’t find it in me to get all that mad about seeing Pixies (no asterisk—fight me) in the live sphere. … read more
Pixies, Best Coast @ Salt Air 02.15
The legendary Pixies make an incredible return to Salt Lake City, performing at Salt Air with opening act Best Coast. … read more
Concert | Music | Show Reviews
LUST featuring Wolfgang Gartner @ In The Venue 02.15 with...
The entire room sang along when Gartner dropped a remix of “Where’s Your Head At?” by Basement Jaxx. Personally, I was surprised Gartner didn’t play the entirety of his Weekend In America album (2011), but he put on a great show nonetheless. In the crowd, people went wild as foam LED glow sticks were tossed back and forth in the air in such masses it looked as if every concertgoer had at least two in hand. … read more
The Pack A.D. @ Kilby Court 02.14 with Super Moon,...
I always say that women make better punks than men, or at least I do now. Just ask Patti Smith. Or ask her doppelganger Becky Black, the lead singer of The Pack A.D., a two-piece garage rock outfit from the ‘Couve. This band is chained to The White Stripes on every website they’re featured on, but I don’t see it. In fact, the only thing they have in common that I can see is a female drummer. … read more
Two Arrows Through My Heart: Coleman Barks and David Darling
The pairing of the two friends was really interesting to watch again, as it seems they balance each other in their friendship much like Shams did with his student Rumi. Throughout the night, Barks kept emphasizing that the beloved is in everything. He talked about watching Allen Ginsberg read “Howl” in 1955 and that he’s “Seen the greatest minds prowling the street for a fix, and that’s the beloved, too.” On the plane over to Utah he watched Louis CK for the first time, and Louis CK is the beloved, too. … read more