illuminati hotties • Daffo • Drusky • October 5, 2024 • Kilby Court
Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall
For their 9th stop on their Can’t Be Still tour, illuminati hotties stopped by the cozy Kilby Court to perform for their dedicated fans in SLC. The fans that show up to the performances at Kilby Court are incredible, and compliment each band after they perform, adding to the homey feel of Kilby Court.
Drusky
The “Local Heroes” as the lead singer from illuminati hotties, Sarah Tudzin, calls them, is the band Drusky. This local Utah band has played all around the state, most notably at DIY Fest, WHY Fest, and Kilby Block Party 5, all this last year alone. Drusky has also gone on many short tours to neighboring states growing their following. This fun grunge pop band’s theme is carried throughout their performances, where you can see them jumping around and smiling the whole time they are performing. Their first full-length album was released this last April titled, “Cake & Absinthe” a huge success and really launching the band. Drusky played as one of the opening acts for illuminati hotties and drew in a crowd of locals who hadn’t heard of the other two bands’ music before that night.
Daffo
“Bark for me” is what the lead singer, Gabi Gamberg, said to the crowd when they hit the stage. The crowd enthusiastically barked right back. Putting a huge smile on Gamber’s face before Daffo started to play their first song, titled “Go Fetch”. The crowd was head-banging and jumping along to the beat. Gamberg actually encouraged more and more people to sing along to the words if they knew them, creating a party atmosphere that no one could resist.
Daffo recently released a song a week ago titled “Get a Life”. Their new song was incredibly popular with the crowd as they knew every word and you could feel the emotions that radiated out of everyone during the song. Just before ending their set, a member of the audience asked Gamberg if they wanted to wear the glasses someone brought to the show. Gamberg agreed so long as they could still see while playing and happily agreed.
After playing the last song in Daffo’s set with the glasses on, Gamberg gave the glasses back to the audience member and apologized because the glasses were sweaty from the heat of performing. However, the audience member said that that was even better and that they would stay that way forever. Daffo’s fans are incredible. They truly connect with the music and band members.
illuminati hotties
On the back wall during the powerful performance from Illuminati Hotties, sat a neon sign lighting up the crowd that read out, “Power” a nod to illuminati hotties’ latest album which only came out a month ago. Although the songs were new to some of the audience that night, other fans were singing along to every lyric. Sarah Tadzin, the lead singer and founder of the band said that playing the songs from the new album “Power” felt like a celebration, and incredibly empowering. Tadzin also said how, “We don’t get out here enough” meaning coming to Utah. In response, someone in the crowd shouted back how illuminati hotties could come back to our favorite shed (Kilby Court) any time.
The fans couldn’t get enough of illuminati hotties. There were also many spontaneous call-and-response moments between Tadzin and the crowd, making them feel included in the music. This was especially true when on the last call, the response was echoed by strumming of guitars and lyrics. During one of the songs, a lyric was changed to, “Salt Lake City, you have great sports, that’s why I love you, Kilby Court” which made the crowd go wild, shouting excitedly, and caused thunderous applause. The atmosphere illuminati hotties brought to Kilby Court was electric, from their matching outfits to their energy and stage presence, everyone was excited to be there.
Unfortunately, after switching to a new guitar in between songs, there were some technical difficulties with the pedal for the guitar. It seemed as if there was something disconnected with the cords. However, as soon as someone from the soundboard came down the issue was fixed quickly, and the song continued as normal, highlighting the incredible showmanship of the band.
The audience members were clapping along to different songs all night long. The whole crowd was jumping around, and even a small mosh pit, started by Gabi Gamberg from Daffo, formed at one point in the night. Toward the end of the show, Tadzin said she wanted to “try something” and moved from the stage into the crowd with a guitar and mic stand in hand. This created an even more intimate moment between the crowd and her during the performance. For their last song of the evening, Tadzin invited Gamberg from Daffo back onto the stage to perform with them. This was an incredible way to end the evening and bring the show to an incredible close.
