Ok Go • September 14, 2025 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe
One of my least favorite things about summer coming to an end is outdoor concerts and summer concert series coming to a close. One of the best and one of our favorite summer concert series is the one at Red Butte Garden Amphitheater. Summer in and Summer out, the Red Butte Outdoor Concert Series brings an impressive roster of musicians to their majestic venue. It always feels like the end of a school year. The people we’ve seen all summer at the garden part ways until the next series. We were fortunate enough to see some spectacular concerts this summer. Our final show at Red Butte was one of the most entertaining. OK Go brought their “And the Adjacent Possible Tour” to Red Butte Garden for the penultimate show of the summer series.
Known worldwide for their creative music videos, from choreographed treadmill dances to massive Rube Goldberg machines, OK Go has carved out a reputation as inventors who blur the lines between music, performance art, and sheer whimsy. Seeing them live, then, carries a special kind of anticipation. Will the stage deliver the same energy their videos have promised for two decades? The answer, as it turns out, is a resounding yes. An OK Go concert is not just a show; it’s an experience where music and audience participation fold into one vibrant package.
From the very first moments, the band leaned into their playful identity. They opened with a burst of color and noise. Damian Kulash bounded across the stage, guitar in hand, greeting the audience like an old friend. The confetti, of course, would become a running motif throughout the evening, an almost literal manifestation of the band’s ethos: music as a party everyone is invited to join.
Musically, OK Go’s setlist pulled heavily from their most beloved material, ensuring that both longtime fans and casual listeners had plenty to savor. They played six songs off their 2025 release, “And the Adjacent Possible.” It seemed that the audience embraced the new tracks. OK Go made sure to include all the crowd favorites to round out a quality setlist. “Get Over It” reminded the audience of the band’s scrappier early days, driven by sharp riffs and Kulash’s buoyant delivery. “This Too Shall Pass” transformed the venue into a jubilant singalong, its chorus ringing out as though written for moments exactly like this. It was the perfect set opener.
But what really sets OK Go apart in concert is the way they refuse to treat live performance as a mere replication of studio recordings. Every song carried a theatrical edge. For example, “Shooting the Moon” was performed with handbells. Yes, handbells. It reminded me of something I might normally see during the holidays. Kulash also mixed things up be going out into the center of the Red Butte audience to perform a solo acoustic version of “This is How it Ends.”
Some of my favorite moments throughout the show were the times the band would stop and see if the audience had any questions. Some questions were interesting, like how the band got its name. Sharing that they got it from going to an arts camp and their teacher’s assistant, who would frequently say the phrase, “OK, Go.” They were also asked if their videos for the new album would be as good as their past videos. They responded by sharing that they have already made a couple of them. Some interactions weren’t even questions. One was a pitch for a video. Their interaction was friendly and fun, and brought the connection between the audience and band very close.
In what was probably my favorite moment of the show, Tim and Damian performed “The Confrontation” from the musical Les Misérables. Their reason for the impromptu performance was due to a technical issue with the guitar. So while that was being figured out, they reenacted the scene. It was impressive that they knew all the words, and they added the necessary drama to get a great reaction from the audience. I can’t imagine they do this at all the shows, so it was a cool moment to experience.
“Here It Goes Again,” their treadmill anthem, naturally drew the loudest cheers, though the band wisely didn’t attempt to recreate the full video choreography on stage. Instead, they leaned into audience interaction, inviting everyone to clap, shout, and dance along while showers of streamers rained down. “Upside Down & Inside Out,” performed with bursts of neon visuals on massive LED panels, turned the stage into a swirling cosmic dance floor.
What makes OK Go so refreshing as a live act is their commitment to fun without irony. In an era where detachment and minimalism often define indie rock, they lean unapologetically into maximalism. Every detail of their show, from the visuals to Kulash’s self-deprecating banter, is designed to maximize delight. It would be easy for such a concept-heavy performance to feel gimmicky, but OK Go’s sincerity and musicianship ensure that the spectacle never overshadows the songs themselves.
