The Red Clay Strays • Dylan Gossett • September 2, 2026 • Maverik Center
Reviewed and Photographed by Ava Dalton
There’s a specific kind of energy and, frankly, magic that happens when a band knows exactly who they are before they even step foot on stage, and that’s the energy Dylan Gossett and The Red Clay Strays brought to the Maverik Center on Wednesday, September 2nd. Both bands have a unique and incredible take on traditional country music, and I could not dream up a more perfect pairing.
Dylan Gosset
Dylan Gossett opened the night, and within about thirty seconds of walking out, he’d already won the room over. “How are we feeling, SLC? Are you ready to party?” he asked, and the crowd in the pit answered back like they meant it. Gossett performed with a five-piece band behind him, and one of the most fun details of the set was watching his pianist switch back and forth to guitar depending on the song, which seems like a small thing, but it kept the set feeling alive and unpredictable rather than static.
Vocally, Gossett has an unmistakable soul in his voice, the kind that doesn’t feel manufactured or polished within an inch of its life. It’s rough in the best way, full of feeling and emotion that felt raw and real. His hour-long set was the perfect length to build anticipation without wearing out the crowd and the energy, and by the time he left the stage, the room was ready for what came next.
The Red Clay Strays
And what came next was unexpected and incredible. The moment The Red Clay Strays’ set began, it was clear the production had been thought through down to the smallest detail. The stage setup itself felt like a scene straight out of old Hollywood: warm, theatrical, intentional. Big circle lights and drapes framed the band like something elegant and professional, and it gave the whole performance the illusion of a first-class event. Frontman Brandon Coleman looked the part too, channeling an Elvis-like presence. And he truly lived up to the comparison. There’s a rasp to his voice that, in lesser hands, could come across thin or hollow, but instead it sounded rich, full, and healthy all the way through the night. As an avid concert-goer, I have heard many vocalists, and Brandon Coleman was truly and genuinely one of the most talented vocalists and performers I have ever seen live.
What struck me most, though, was just how many people were on that stage. Between three guitarists, three background vocalists, one bassist, a drummer, and a keys/organ player rounding out the band behind Coleman, the sound was truly massive. There was real power and real strength behind every single instrument. Nothing felt like filler. Even the choice of who sang backup on which song felt deliberate and intentional. The backing vocalists weren’t there for the entire set, but rather were brought in for specific moments, which made those harmonies land even harder when they did show up. By the fifth song, when the vocals really opened up, it felt completely effortless, like the band had been building toward that exact moment the whole time.
One of my very favorite parts of the night came directly before the first song even started, where the band had an app that connected to the crowd’s phones and synced everyone up for the opening song, turning the whole arena into part of the performance before a single note was even played live. It’s the kind of intentional art that shows a band thinking beyond just the setlist and into the full experience of a show.
If I have one small critique, it’s that I wish the band moved around the stage a little more. The musicianship and intention were all there, where every change truly felt purposeful, every transition was flawlessly considered, but there were stretches where a little more physical energy could have matched the intensity of the sound coming off that stage. That said, I also think part of this comes down to the venue. The crowd itself felt noticeably lower energy than I’d expect for a band this dynamic and a crowd this large, and that might just be the tradeoff that comes with a bigger, more spread-out stadium-style setting like the Maverik Center.
A band built on raw, soulful energy like The Red Clay Strays might actually hit even harder in a smaller, more intimate room where that energy has nowhere to go but back and forth between the stage and the crowd. That being said, without the energy of the crowd, the Red Clay Strays still brought incredible energy to the venue and put on a beyond incredible show.
Still, none of that takes away from what was clearly a night built on genuine musicianship and intention. From Dylan Gossett’s emotionally rich opening set to The Red Clay Strays’ perfectly laid out, old-Hollywood take on a stadium show, Salt Lake City got a night of live music that felt meticulously handcrafted rather than rehearsed. If this tour comes back around, do yourself a favor and grab a ticket, bring all of your energy, and prepare to have your expectations exceeded.
