Our First Local Show: Utah Bands Who Made It Big Reflect on Their Roots
Music Interviews
Dallon Weekes got his start playing with The Brobecks at Kilby Court, later joined Panic! At the Disco and is now touring this fall as IDKHOW. Provo and Orem have birthed legendary groups such as Neon Trees, The National Parks and The Used, while Salt Lake City has been an incubator for both hardcore acts like Chelsea Grin and indie rockers like The Moss and Krooked Kings alike. But before they were selling out stadiums and touring internationally, each of these bands (and many more) got their start right here in the Beehive State. SLUG reached out to the biggest musical groups who originally came out of Utah with a simple request: Tell us about the first local show you ever played.
The Aces
We played a lot of school talent shows and summer festivals, but our first real show we ever played was at a place in Provo called Muse Music Cafe. It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall venue; Utah Valley natives know it well. We were so nervous—there was hardly anyone there, haha. I think we were opening for another local band. We were just kids, probably 12 or 13 years old, and it felt like the biggest stage in the world to us. In our minds, we had everything to prove! We wanted to show that we were a real band and we were in it for the long haul. It all started there.
Dallon Weekes
I got started playing house parties around Davis County with my high school band in the ‘90s. Our first proper show was at The Junction in Ogden. In the early ‘00s, we (The Brobecks) played our first Kilby Court show. The audience was, of course, family, friends and curious coworkers. We also discovered, for the first time, [that] there were other bands in this town! A whole scene! It was our third show at Kilby where, for the first time, strangers had come to see us play because they had heard about us. The next show was sold out! That’s when I knew I had to do this forever. So much incredible music and art is made here. No matter where I go or where I end up, I will always try my best to turn as many heads towards SLC as I can.
David Flinn of Chelsea Grin
My first show with Chelsea Grin in Utah would have been [in the] fall of 2009. I remember I had practiced one time with the band after joining and was told we were playing a show a few days later. I was freaking out! Needless to say it wasn’t the tightest set we ever played, but I remember the 50 kids who were there (half being friends) were beating the hell out of each other and having a blast, so it felt a lot better than it was. The set was played in the bottom of a church and lasted all of five songs, which were on our first self-titled EP. Chelsea Grin and deathcore have come along way since those early days, but I miss those small, sweaty and usually violent shows.
Jepha of The Used
In 2000, about 24 years ago, our very, very, very first show—I don’t know if it’s still around, [but it was at] Johnny B’s in Provo. For some reason, the first couple of shows we played, we would get kicked out of the venue, or we’d never be allowed back, or the venue would close down … Before The Used, we used to play at a veterans hall in American Fork. Since there weren’t that many bands in Utah County, [the lineup] would be, like, metal bands with hip-hop bands. But at Johnny B’s, Bert [McCracken] had a friend who was a ballet dancer or something. We ended with “A Box Full of Sharp Objects”—at the time we only had six songs—and we had a bunch of ballet dancers come up on stage. I guess it freaked the venue out and that’s why they wouldn’t allow us back. It was pretty wild back then. And the show after that, a kid broke both of his legs jumping off a balcony. It was crazy, man. Back in 2000 we were considered, like, heavier. We were more hardcore. Bert was screaming pretty much everything. We actually stopped playing shows because we couldn’t really go anywhere—we lived in Utah County and we didn’t have a car to drive to Salt Lake. The momentum [of the band] was honestly quicker than you can imagine … We play a show, we get kicked out of the venue; we play a show, we get kicked out of the venue. So then we focused on writing and just jamming together, you know?
Krooked Kings
The first Krooked Kings show was technically in 2018 at The Loading Dock, but with our current group, the first show was at the Quarters DLC with the Gontiks and Herring. We had just released The Comedown, our debut album, so we played songs off of that [and] the crowd made us feel right at home.
The National Parks
The first show we ever played in Utah was the “Battle of the Bands” at Velour [Live Music Gallery] in Provo. We got the band together like two days before the show and ended up winning our night and taking second place in the finals. It was wild! I’ll never forget the feeling of stepping on stage in front of a packed house at Velour and just feeding off that energy. I immediately knew I wanted that feeling in my life forever.
Silver Cup
Our first show in Utah was at Kilby Court near the end of 2021, right before we moved back to NYC for school and work. It was our first live performance since the pandemic lockdown, making it even more special. We played songs from our first EP and our latest release, “Slippers,” alongside our friends future.exboyfriend and Bad Heather. The turnout was incredible, with a packed room singing our lyrics back to us—it was a surreal and unforgettable experience that marked the beginning of our journey as a live band.
Spencer Petersen of Sego
For our first show in Utah, we had the good fortune of being invited to open for The Moth & The Flame at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo. I believe it was an anniversary show … TMTF had quite the dedicated fan base, so it was a packed night which was a bit unnerving for me since I was still figuring out how to be a frontman. We’d just debuted our first few songs online so we were playing “20 Years Tall” and “Wicket Youth” as well as early versions of “Stars,” “Engineer Amnesia” and “Psychobabble.” As alienating as some of our early stuff could be, I felt like the audience embraced us. In a lot of ways, this show set the tone for how we approach live shows.
Tyke James of The Moss
The first show we ever played in Utah was a house show in Provo and I had two broken knees. The first show we ever sold tickets to, though, was at Bill Harris Music in Provo circa 2019. We played with Harbor Patrol and The Backseat Lovers, and met a lot of long-time friends and fans there. We played a few originals, a few Pinegrove songs, maybe a Johnny Cash song. The scene feels so much bigger now, but the music scene in Utah has always been so special. As a band, we believe so much in SLC—and not just the artists, because I personally feel like another thing that makes SLC such an amazing scene is how good everyone is at listening and enjoying themselves at a concert. That’s why almost any touring band you talk to will remember playing SLC. Especially when they play Kilby 🙂
Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees
Since we formed in Utah, we’re going back to 2005 when the original Neon Trees lineup played our first show at a billiards place in Provo called OZZ—it had a small 100-cap hall where bands could play. We actually went in to play pool and ended up lying to the owner that we could headline a show there (little did he know we barely had songs), and he booked us. We had, like, a week to write and learn an eight-song set, and we ended up bringing around 75 people to the show. The rest is history. If we’re talking about the first time we played with Elaine [Bradley] and Branden [Campbell] (as the lineup everyone knows and is still the same to this day), then the show would also be in Provo headlining the Sego Festival (which is also now defunct, but it was an awesome festival that featured tons of local bands and artists), and by then we had made a pretty solid local name for ourselves. We’ve played so many venues and spaces in Utah over the years, and we’re still so proud to claim it as our “hometown show” state.
Graphic Designer: Allie Stephens Barr
allisonbarrdesign.squarespace.com
Walk us through how you created this layout. What inspired you when designing it?
As soon as I read the article, I was drawn to my own memories of Velour Live Music Gallery, the small venue in Provo where many of these bands got their start. The style of the building is eclectic, the font and colors steampunk, their serif and deep red standing out as a beacon of Provo counterculture on University Avenue. I was drawn to the color red and also the idea of a collection of memories, a map of their scrappy journey.
Tell us about your design background. How has your style evolved over time?
I first began designing in college after taking a print publishing class for my major. I was introduced to Adobe Illustrator and InDesign and instantly fell in love with the design process [and] watching my ideas come to life through the all-consuming process of creating and tweaking. I remember losing hours in the school library working on my projects and imagining doing it as my career. I decided to chase that dream, and after college I began my career at a candy company where I worked for two years designing packaging and marketing materials. I currently work as the marketing graphic designer at Cinch, a marketing software company founded in 2018 based out of Draper, Utah where I have slowly grown into the role of full creative control of our brand.
What are some of your design inspirations or influences?
Currently, working full-time in marketing for a B2B Marketing Technology startup, I draw a lot of inspiration from creative SaaS websites such as Loom, Ramp, Mural, Zapier and Miro, to name a few from the 40-ish names I keep pinned to the wall at my desk. I also visit Pinterest, Behance and Dribbble when I need a relief from various interpretations of software, stock photos and icons of the SaaS marketing world.
What does your graphic design process usually look like?
I think the ideation process is invaluable to the execution of a design. A strong concept is the foundation of strong visual communication, and jumping into execution too quickly can often lead to confusion and stress—and messy work. I then create a full working moodboard, with images, fonts and colors pulled for inspiration, and start sketching layouts and illustrations. I then move to Adobe, and start executing the final product.
What is your favorite aspect of graphic design?
I love color theory, and playing with new color palettes is currently my favorite stage of the design process.
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