Show Reviews
Cash’d Out @ The State Room 02.21
Douglas Benson’s vocals are so spot-on that if you closed your eyes you could be transported to a Cash live show circa 1962. Songs like “Boy Named Sue,” “Walk the Line” and even the folk tale epic “The Ballad of John Henry” were all done with attention to detail in such a way that these guys weren’t just playing Cash songs, they were playing Cash songs the way Cash and his band played them … read more
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. @ The State Room 03.07 with...
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. snuck onstage, and the audience barely had a chance to clap. It seemed almost intentional as they quickly went into songs, almost like they wanted to catch the audience off guard. The audience battled back though, and 30 of Salt Lake’s finest rhythm specialists took to the floor. Jr. Jr. bopped and jumped and Salt Lake City shook and waved. … read more
God Module @ Area 51 03.06 with The Witch Was...
The members of Mordacious joined a horrifying, hooded man in a mask that looked as if his face was falling off. The room began to fill with tiny lights from phones and many tried to capture the evil that was taking place onstage.The mask was removed, revealing God Module front man Jaysn Bangert exposing his even more devious facial expressions. At that moment it became obvious who had brought the larger-than-average turnout. … read more
Lake Island @ Muse Music Cafe 03.01 with Coral Bones,...
It was a damp, mild Saturday night—nice enough not to have to wear a coat, dry enough not to really notice. I was heading to Muse, the other music venue on University Avenue, to check out Coral Bones—whose album, Youthemism was my favorite local release of last year. … read more
Russian Circles @ Urban Lounge 03.02 w/ KEN mode, Inter...
Russian Circles’ tones, tempos and rhythms rise and fall, fold and buckle, tear and crumble, melt and congeal, in the way that mineral processes sculpt the land. The spectacle is orderly, rational, frequently beautiful, and spatially and temporally grand. … read more
Concert | Music | Show Reviews
Russian Circles @ Urban Lounge 03.02 with Inter Arma, KEN...
Russian Circles performed live at Urban Lounge March 2.
… read more
Concert | Music | Show Reviews
Pentagram @ Club Sound 03.01 with Merlin’s Beard, Kings Destroy,...
Seeing “old” bands is always a double-edged sword. On one hand, dusting off old tunes for a festival crowd or quick reunion circuit can equal big dollar signs at the ticket office, but lackluster performances from old heroes well past their prime can quickly sour that magic. I guess that’s what made this all the better. Pentagram never really had a prime to grow out of. … read more
Skinny Puppy @ Lo-Fi Cafe 02.26 with Army of the...
Outside the Lo-Fi Café there was a line to end all lines. Skinny Puppy and Army of the Universe were about hold a crowd in their hand before they crushed them with pulsating industrial rock … read more
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