Jordy Searcy• w/ William Hinson & Phillip Vo• May 8, 2023• Kilby Court
Reviewed and Photographed by Josilyn Wakkuri Lybbert
Fans packed in tight, and even overflowed into the courtyard, at Kilby Court on Monday, May 8th for Jordy Searcy’s concert. He was joined by William Hinson and Phillip Vo, Salt Lake City stop of the Daylight Tour! Excitement for the sold-out show was apparent as I arrived at the venue. I noticed a long line that snaked down the cul-de-sac where Kilby Court is located. I’d never been to the local iconic venue before, but quickly grew to appreciate its quirky charm and sticker-plastered walls!
I was particularly looking forward to this show. I’ve been listening to both Jordy Searcy’s and William Hinson’s music since 2020. I discovered Jordy’s music while listening to a Spotify station based on the song, “George Harrison,” by William. So it was cool that they’re touring together (for the second time)! This was Jordy Searcy’s second time playing at Kilby Court, but it was his fourth time playing in Utah. He opened and performed with Ben Rector at the Sandy Amphitheater last year. For William, this was his second time playing a show in Utah! His previous show in Utah was held last year (*cue humble brag) in my apartment!
William Hinson
William, who made it to Salt Lake just in time after a nightmare of a travel day, kicked off the night’s events. He started off with his song, “George Harrison,” which was the first song I ever happened upon by him a few years ago. “George Harrison,” was followed by another song with a title with a nod to a Beatle, “Paul McCartney.” The crowd had a little laugh with William when he sang the witty lyrics, “Maybe I’ll never write the perfect song, coz so many good ones have come along, long before I came out of my mom.” The audience continued to laugh along with him for his entire set and ate up every joke he snuck in. His stage presence was fun and engaging and fans were totally drawn in from the get-go!
Up next was his song, “Funemployment”. He comically announced, “A song about being poor!”. Which the crowd, made up of, what seemed to be mostly college-aged students that likely could relate to the sentiment, cheered in response! Before singing a beautiful song called, “Ireland,” William gave the backstory on how the song came to be. His girlfriend was planning on studying abroad in Ireland. So he wrote the song because of that. “A month before she was supposed to leave she said, ‘I’m going to Sweden…’ so this song is called ‘Ireland.”
By this point, I had made my way to the back of the venue in hopes of catching a different angle to take photos. There wasn’t a chance that I was going to get into the crowd! They filled every possible space! Regardless if they had a good view or not, everyone just wanted to be in there to experience the music! Security was kind enough to grab me a chair to stand on in the doorway to grab some photos. It also made it so I was able to see the whole crowd.
People were clapping and having a good time to the upbeat, poppy song, “Why Won’t You Be My Girl?”. They were loudly singing a part of the song that William had taught them before it started! During that song, I heard someone say to someone next to them, “Gosh, I need a man who can play the guitar!”
As William’s set drew to a close, there was a new level of energy in the room. People were sad to see him go! Everyone was well-loved by the crowd at Kilby for his talent, humor, and clever songs!
Phillip Vo
Minutes after William’s set, Phillip Vo was up! I wasn’t familiar with Phillip prior to the show, but many songs of his were quickly added to my music library following this show. I have been encouraging friends and family to do the same- he was so good! He started out with an endearing song called, “45 Seconds,”. That song was followed by a sweet, upbeat song called, “Young Love,” which talks about the joys of such a thing! After only a few minutes of Phillip being on stage, I noticed a few different groups of girls. They had become giggly from swooning over his sweet songs. I know I’ve already used the word sweet twice in this bit a few times, but if I had to use a word to summarize Phillip’s set, it would be that!
He played some of his set with a guitar and some of it on the piano which was cool! During one song, “Dream Chasers,” he asked the audience to sing along at a certain part and to try to sound like a gospel choir. They sure delivered. He said, “You guys sound so good!”. He started the next song with the theme from the movie Up, which received a collective, “Aw,” from the crowd. That led into his song called, “Up,” which was positive and encouraging. The last song, “Late Bloomer,” talked about different insecurities. I’m sure that most could relate to that at some point! It’s safe to say that the crowd adored Phillip!
Jordy Searcy
The crowd went wild when Jordy Searcy got up on stage! He started his set with a sweet, but also a little bit sad, song called, “Molly.” Soon Jordy’s band joined him, and the band members were none other than Phillip Vo, William Hinson, and Scooter Spicer, who also manages the tour! Everyone was really excited to see them again! They sang a cover of The Beach Boys’ hit, “God Only Knows,” and it was so good! Jordy’s highest streaming hit, “Love & War In Your Twenties,” was played early on in the show. The fans exploded with excitement! I took a video for part of the song and watching it back, it shows everyone absolutely living their best lives during that one!
The band had just as much fun, so much so that Jordy broke a guitar string! They also covered the song, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” by Tears for Fears. They had everyone dancing in sync which was a fun moment! Then, he went into the crowd and sang, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”. People thought that that was so cool! At one point in the show, Jordy Searcy FaceTimed his girlfriend to sing a song to her. He sang a cute song about what the worst-case scenarios could be if they both lost their jobs and the worst-case scenarios weren’t so bad. The audience loved that part of the show!
Jordy Searcy told everyone that when the tour was announced that he encouraged musicians local to the tour stops to reach out to perform a song with him. Then he brought a girl named Cienna on stage to sing, “Morning Glow.” It was like the song was written for her to sing it with him. She did a beautiful job and they did great together!
It was a joy to watch Jordy and the band all play together. Many in attendance said they thought the same thing! They looked like they were all having so much fun and would interact with each other while playing, and that energy rippled throughout the crowd!
Towards the end of the show, Jordy Searcy went to play in the middle of the audience. People crowded around as he sang a touching song called, “Explaining Jesus,” and the room fell into a quiet reverence as people listened or quietly sang with him. That song ended with a bit of, “Amazing Grace,” and the crowd sang along and harmonized beautifully, and it made everything feel so peaceful. Then the rest of the band joined, and a lot of people put their flashlights on which illuminated the band in the middle of them.
Jordy Searcy and his band played the song that’s the tour’s namesake, “Daylight,” with a mix of The Beatles’, “Here Comes The Sun,” in the middle of it, and just like the titles to the songs elude and lights shining around the room, it all just felt happy and bright! The final song of the night was, “Shoulda Been In A Band,” and they rocked so hard! So hard that William even crowd surfed for the first time! They were all jumping and dancing around and it was such a fun way to end the show!
The party didn’t stop there, the whole lineup stuck around to say hi to all of the fans that wanted to, which is pretty rare and a concertgoer’s dream! There was a line inside the venue to visit with Jordy, and when people were done in there, they joined a line that stretched a crossed the courtyard to get merch and see Phillip and William.
One girl standing near me was on the phone and could be heard saying, “Mom, I just need you to be prepared for me to be playing all of these guys’ music on repeat for the foreseeable future,” and I think many leaving Kilby Court that night felt the same way! Jordy Searcy’s Daylight Tour stop in Salt Lake City was well-loved from start to finish!
