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Jade Bird October 4, 2021 The State Room

Photo Credit: Kevin Rolfe

As a concert reviewer, I’ve had the opportunity to see many artists as they’re starting out.  I’m always thrilled to see them move on to the next step of their career.  An album release, a TV appearance, or what’s most impressive to me, when they stop back by Utah but in a larger venue than before.  For example, we were able to cover Conan Grey, when he was at Kilby Court then again on his next tour at The Depot.  Not everyone has that kind of trajectory in their music career so it’s exciting to see when it does happen.  

Out of all these artists,  my favorite has been Jade Bird.  Jade was one of the very first artists to reach out to Utah Concert Review for coverage when she was coming to play Utah.  Of course, this was exciting to me. One, the website was gaining some traction, and two, someone saw the value in it that they would want us out to cover their show.  I eagerly accepted the invitation without having ever heard of Jade Bird or listened to her music.  She was opening for Son Little at The State Room and that was about all I knew. But upon seeing that initial performance, I’ve become a big fan ever since.  

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Glen Hansard September 20, 2019, Eccles Theater

By Kevin Rolfe

Photo Credit: Kevin Rolfe @utahconcertreview

When it was first announced that Glen Hansard was going to be playing the Eccles Theater my initial thought was, “I’m definitely going to that show!”.  But as the summer concerts were announced I had a real dilemma on my hands. Two other shows that I wanted to see were announced for the same date. This was a problem.  (I know, “Poor Kevin, he has to choose between three concerts to go to!”) I’m not saying it’s a bad problem to have but one I didn’t anticipate. One was a band that I’ve always wanted to see, and another that was playing their farewell tour. What to do? As I weighed my options the thing that came to mind was “Which of these shows will you regret missing the most?”  Glen Hansard was the answer every time. I was not disappointed with my decision. Glen played a two hour, ten minute set befitting of the beautiful downtown theater hosting his concert. 

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John Craigie September 18, 2019, The State Room

By: Justin Hicken

Photo Credit: Kevin Rolfe @utahconcertreview

John Craigie is a one of a kind singer-songwriter, comedian, and storyteller. His well-balanced mix of folk songs and comical stories make for a wonderful evening and that’s absolutely why John Craigie and his audience were all smiles at the State Room for a rare seated show on Wednesday night September 18th.

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UCR Interview/ Review Carlie Hanson

May 4, 2019 The Depot

By: Kevin Rolfe

Carlie Hanson is a singer-songwriter from La Crosse Wisconson.  She is getting ready to release her first EP Junk on June 7th. Her current single “Back in my Arms” was just released in April and is getting a ton of play.  I had the opportunity to speak with Carlie the day before her show at The Depot. I really enjoyed chatting with her. Enjoy!

Photo By: Cassie Anderson

Utah Concert Review:   Hi Carlie how are you? Where are you currently?

Carlie Hanson:  Hii, Kevin! I’m good, very good. I’m in Denver right now where we’re doing a show tonight.

UCR: Well, we’re excited to have you here in Utah.

CH: We played Salt Lake City one other time and it was one of my most memorable/ favorite concerts ever. Like the crowd was just unreal. Everyone was so hype. We played in like this little garage. I think it was called Kilby Court.  

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Jade Bird April 6, 2019 The Union

By: Aubree Schill, Roadie

Photo By: Aubree Schill

Note from the Editor: When I saw that Jade Bird was coming back to Utah, I knew UCR had to cover her concert again. We’ve been lucky to have covered Jade from the beginning and are so excited where her career is going. I have had the pleasure of reviewing Jade’s previous stops in Utah so for this tour as much as I wanted to cover the show, I thought it might be interesting to get another take on this brilliant up and coming singer-songwriter. Just a few short months ago, I had the opportunity to Interview Aubree Schill of the band Roadie, an up and coming singer-songwriter in her own right. During our interview, we discussed our mutual love for Jade Bird. A lightbulb went off. “What if I had Aubree review Jade when she comes town next?” I felt like getting the perspective of an artist who is a fan as well as on the path Jade herself trod not long ago would be the fresh take on this show I was hoping for. Well, as it turns out that’s just what happened. Here is Aubree’s account of Jade’s most recent visit to Utah. It turned out just as I hoped it would.

-Kevin

One of the first things I read about Jade Bird when I discovered her music was that she had “a voice that can silence the busiest bar.” At that time, I couldn’t have agreed more, but now I think this statement could be updated: “a voice that can silence a crowd of thousands.” She played for her third time ever in Salt Lake City on April 6th in front of the largest crowd I’ve personally seen her at yet. Opening for Hozier at the Union, she braved the crowd of likely around three thousand with her voice and guitar alone. And she owned it.

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