COIN w/ Blackstarkids• July 22, 2022• The Great Saltair
Reviewed and Photographed by Tomo Crestani
On Friday, July 22nd, COIN visited Salt Lake City to play a packed show at The Great Saltair. Having gained quite a bit of traction here in Utah, the whole event was pretty exciting from the beginning. Bringing along the Blackstarkids, there was not much room for boredom.
The Great Saltair
The Great Saltair is one of my personal favorite venues in the area. Although this concert was my first time with the indoor setup, it was still just as fun. The staff was super helpful and kind throughout the night. They even had to delay COIN from coming onto stage because of the temperature in the building. It was nice to see a venue care about the health and safety of the crowd and the band. There are many places where the show would have gone on and possibly resulted in injury to people in attendance.
I was also impressed with the amount of water that they handed out. They were able to get water into the middle of the crowd, which is not an easy task. I loved watching the security become friends with the fans in the front row as the night went on. Overall the venue perfectly suited COIN for this tour.
Blackstarkids
Blackstarkids were a band I had never heard of. Going into their set with no expectations, I was expecting them to be similar to COIN. However, they were very different. I enjoyed some of their set but could tell there was a little bit more yelling and screaming than singing. It seemed to be a common complaint throughout the crowd as the band continued to perform. Don’t get me wrong, the performance was still a super fun time. Just wasn’t the easiest to listen to at times. The guitarist was the most engaging with the crowd, as he was constantly throwing his guitar picks into the audience. The energy on stage was very high. I was impressed with how fast they were able to keep the show moving.
I noticed that all the members of the band seemed pretty young. One, in particular, looked very young. She was clearly enjoying her time on stage and was connecting with the crowd pretty well. I will probably not be going back to listen to Blackstarkids often, but I do see an audience that could enjoy their music. They played a short set that set the stage perfectly for COIN.
COIN
Although the showtime kept being delayed due to the heat, it was worth the wait. The lights went out and COIN’s intro began to play. “Learning” played in the background as a white visual showed on the screens. As the intro ended the band took the stage. They opened the show with “Watering a Dead Flower”. The building was jumping almost the entire show. COIN was able to even add some extra energy into some of their slower songs to adjust to the setting. I loved seeing them change up a few songs in order to make the performance more fun to listen to.
One aspect of the show that I think everyone appreciated was the lead singers dancing. Chase Lawrence was an excellent performer making sure to move around the stage and dance as much as possible. Even more impressive, he had an incredible voice while doing it. The entire band helped support this energy, however, Chase put the show on his back and made sure everyone had the best night possible.
I hadn’t heard much of COIN’s music, but I will definitely be returning to listen to them frequently. They have a lot of songs I had never heard that will be making my rotation of playlists. I also noticed that so many people knew the lyrics to the tracks that aren’t as popular on streaming services. COIN has established a very strong fanbase. I was surprised to see how many people packed into the small indoor stage setup. There were a couple of fans on the front row holding flowers for the band, and he eventually was able to collect them. It is always nice to see an artist appreciate the effort their fans put in to show them some love while performing.
There were also more signs than I think I have ever seen at a concert of this size. I don’t know how many the band actually read, but some of them were actually really funny.
As the show began to come to a close, COIN sang their most popular song, “Malibu 1992”. Having listened to this song many times, I was very excited to hear them perform it live. They did not disappoint. The entire venue was moving with the music and singing every word. Even after performing in the hot venue for the past hour or so, they continued to go strong. They even came back out and played two encore songs. They played “Crash my Car” and “Fingers Crossed”. Everyone in attendance gave everything they had into those last two songs before COIN left the stage.
Overall I would highly recommend finding COIN on their Uncanny Valley North American Tour. They play an excellent show. I would also encourage visiting The Great Saltair if you find the chance to see a show there. It is a perfect venue to spend your night at. COIN’s new album is also worth a listen on your drive to work or just sitting at home. Blackstarkids have a more select audience but I would recommend giving them a listen to find out for yourself if you like them or not. COIN will now go on to finish their North America Tour and hopefully come back next year to play another show in Salt Lake.