Alec Benjamin w/ Claire Rosinkranz• October 5, 2022• The Union
Reviewed and Photographed by Tomo Crestani
With yet another sold out show in Salt Lake, The Union supported Alec Benjamin and Claire Rosinkranz on Alec’s 2022 Tour. Both artists are on the rise currently, and don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Alec Benjamin is a little more established as he has been popular for a while. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t still rising in popularity. Claire on the other hand has been a recent trend, with multiple songs blowing up on social media in the past couple years. I was very excited for both artists, as I have listened to them both a decent amount. I was also very excited to visit The Union again. It is one of my favorite venues in the Salt Lake area.
The Union
As soon as I arrived at the venue it was apparent that most people in attendance were equally excited for both sets. It is pretty rare to have the opener be so popular. There are not always people that go to a show to see the opener perform. Both artists provided an incredible night for everyone in attendance.
The Union was a perfect place for this show. Although it was pretty packed, it was fun to have such a fun energy in the building. That didn’t make it easy for the air conditioning or fans to reach anyone, with all the body heat making the room very hot. But I would say it was worth the experience to have that many people in attendance. The venue did everything they could, including passing water to everyone throughout the show. They must have gone through at least twenty cases of water in between the sets. The security were very kind and helpful to everyone there that night. I was very impressed with how smoothly they let everyone in. It was kind of a hectic entrance when the first few were let in. They were able to get it under control very quickly.
The lighting and sound at The Union always impresses. I was especially impressed with how well you could hear both artists vocals. Sometimes with artists that have more instruments in their music tend to not have loud vocals live. It was really fun to hear their vocals so clearly no matter where you were in the venue.
Claire Rosinkranz
As the anticipation was clearly getting to the crowd, Claire Rosinkranz took the stage. Her first three songs were all unreleased. I loved all of them. It was very cool to listen to her perform songs that nobody could have known the words to, and still brought so much energy to the performance. I also loved how happy she was on stage. There were very few moments where Claire wasn’t smiling ear to ear. Although I heard her songs through TikTok initially, I have become a huge fan of all of her work. This performance only made me love her music more. She puts so much thought into her lyrics and rhythms. The music really does change how you feel. It is a very happy and inspiring vibe in my opinion.
Claire closed the show with a few of her most popular songs, which I was able to watch from the back. There was a little girl who was maybe 7 years old, standing on the table in the back singing every single word to every song. As she left the stage, the young girl began to cry and asked her dad if she was done already. It was crazy to see such a young fan be so attached to an artist already. Her performance definitely resonated with everyone in attendance that night.
Alec Bengamin
After Claire left the stage, there was about 30 minutes of waiting before Alec came on. Alec had one of the coolest intros I had seen in recent shows. He had flashing lights going back and forth on the stage that were in sync with the music. His band members came on stage as the lights flashed. Finally the room went dark and Alec walked on stage. He greeted the crowd with a big smile and wave.
Alec’s performance was full of passion. You can really tell that the songs he writes mean the world to him. Although I am unaware if the songs are based on personal experiences, it sure seems like every song he sang had very deep meaning to him. This brought so much to his show, as sometimes the slower artists struggle to be entertaining live. Alec also changed some of his songs to be more fun to listen to live. It was very impressive to watch him play around with his guitar as he played. He also had a few moments where he seemed to have a guitar battle with his guitarist. The crowd would go crazy every time they met at the middle of the stage and played their guitars back and forth.
As the night came to an end, Alec expressed his gratitude for the support he received in Utah. He claimed that Salt Lake is always one of his favorite cities to play in. I genuinely believe he enjoys it here, as he seems to visit Utah often.
Overall I would highly recommend listening to Alec Benjamin’s music. He is a super emotional and talented artist. Claire Rosinkranz is also one of my favorite artists out there right now. With a variety of emotions in her songs, she has at least one song for everyone out there. The Union is also a venue I would highly recommend you visit soon. They never disappoint to make every show the best experience possible.
