By: Cassilyn Anderson
With the stars shining up against the mountains, and along the silhouetted trees the beautiful stage of the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater at the Deer Valley Resort played host to one of the most interesting bands I’ve ever seen. The Deer Valley Concert Series invited Thievery Corporation to be its guest for the second to last show of the summer. Nights like this just don’t happen very often, so I was glad I got to be there.
The show began with local artist, Talia Keys. She told the crowd that she used to ski at Deer Valley. It’s hard to believe that this stunning amphitheater is a ski slope during the winter. She is extremely talented. She’s a very positive artist with a great voice! She was so easy to like. She seemed so grateful for the opportunity to not only open this show but to be able to play music in general. She dedicated a song to her niece and thanked her mom for supporting her music. She told the crowd, “The thing about Jesus is Jesus loves EVERYBODY!” Great point, Talia! She had such a good energy about her. Her style had a real rock feel along with some reggae vibes, which would make sense since she also played the Reggae Rise Up festival following this concert. I thought she was the perfect artist to get this crowd going for the headliner.
Thievery Corporation is one of those bands you totally root for. They’ve never been signed to a major label, they don’t have a radio hit, yet they’ve been doing this for over twenty years. They’ve played major festivals, been on television, movie soundtracks and have worked with some majorly influential artists like Perry Ferrel, David Byrne, and The Flaming Lips. And here they were at Deer Valley playing to a large audience of loyal and excited fans. I think it says a lot about the type of band they are when people have found them in what I’m guessing are unconventional ways. Especially considering they started out in the mid-90s. It’s easier now to find bands and music but in the 90s, radio was still generally how you discovered music. It felt like the fans at Deer Valley were proud to be fans of Thievery Corporation and in a way protective of this massive band.
I have to take a moment to point out my favorite band member of the night. With everything that was happening on that stage, I kept noticing the bassist, Hash. He was all over that stage. He just seemed to freely flow about the stage rarely stopping. And when he did he would lift his knees up high as if he was marching but to a funky beat. His name seemed appropriate because I’m pretty sure he smoked a joint at one point on stage. That would explain his easy going ways. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like it. But he was awesome. He must have walked five miles by the end of that concert. With the singers and other members of the band moving all around, he was like a human metronome just evenly keeping time across the stage.
Photo Credit: Cassilyn Anderson
It’s almost too hard to pick, but I think my favorite song was “Fight to Survive” which featured Mr. Lif, Natalia, and Puma. This song encapsulated a feeling I had the entire night, while studio recordings are awesome, this song, like all the others, was incredible live. The emotion coming from the stage flowed through the audience and was then returned back by the crowd. People were moving and dancing so much! And I think the live aspect of this song made it impossible to stand still. Other highlights were “The Forgotten People”, (Who knew an instrumental could be so impactful?!), and probably their most well-known song, “Lebanese Blonde”. There are so many styles and influences going through that song! And who doesn’t love a good sitar solo?!
Photo Credit: Cassilyn Anderson 
If you have never seen Thievery Corporation live, I implore you to do so next time they come through Utah. Seeing them at Deer Valley was a special experience all its own. But this is a band that needs to be appreciated for their live show. It totally blew my mind! When I was up close taking photos at the beginning of the show I felt entranced by their performance. It almost felt like they were performing just for me! But the amazing thing is when I made my way back to the General Admission area, I felt the exact same way. See this band!
Note from the editor- “Sadly, the next Deer Valley Concert Series show will be the finale of the season. But they’re going out with a bang! British rock band, Squeeze will be closing out the summer with special guests X. I have a strong feeling this is going to be an amazing send off into Fall!” You can purchase tickets by clicking here!
See you there,
Kevin
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