By: Kaden Severn
Tuesday, July 23 brought some heat that I hadn’t felt since moving to Utah. That didn’t stop people from coming out to the historic Kilby Court! The venue famous for being the debut spot for artists in the Salt Lake area brought out a small, but enthusiastic crowd to experience the chilled out vibes and beautiful vocals from three up and coming female artists.
This was my first time attending a concert at Kilby Court and was fascinated to learn of its rich history of being one of the first places that many artists play at before becoming superstars. I was excited to hear some great music from some artists I hadn’t yet heard of but have the potential to blow up like many artists who have played here before them!
Belle Jewel, a former contestant on The Voice and Utah native was the night’s headliner. However, the crowd was also excited to experience the music from the two opening acts, Cera Gibson, and Faith Marie. Around 7:30 people began to fill into the room as Cera took the stage.
Photo By: Kaden Severn @simplybrilliantstudios 
Photo By: Kaden Severn @simplybrilliantstudios
Cera cheerfully greeted the crowd as she began her set. The first thing I noticed right away was her pure vocals. Often through the verses of her songs, she would mutter the words with a chill and low melodic tone that were really calming. However, it was her high notes that really set the mood. Cera had a grit to her voice that is something rarely heard in the music industry. The high notes she hit really drew the attention of the crowd and had everyone entranced. It was the perfect way to start the night off and get everyone in the mood to just experience the great music they would hear throughout the rest of the night. Her passionate performance backed by a great drummer made me a fan for sure.
Photo By: Kaden Severn @simplybrilliantstudios 
Photo By: Kaden Severn @simplybrilliantstudios
Next up was Faith Marie. She took the stage with only a keyboard and sampler. Her first song was started by her singing acapella with the lights off. Then came something that I had never seen before in all the many concerts I’ve been to, she created beats out of her own voice. She would sing a simple melody and using her sampler she’d loop that and combine that with other samples to create a beat using her own voice. It was an extremely creative and unique moment and definitely sparked the interest of everyone in attendance. After the first song, she stood up and said: “Who’s ready to get weird.” She was not wrong, Faith’s oftentimes poetic lyrics and unique beats paired perfectly with her hauntingly beautiful voice to create a somewhat ominous feeling that was unusual but strangely welcoming. Faith for sure has a future and I am excited to hear some more of her work.
After two great performances from both Cera and Faith, the mood was perfect for the star of the night, Belle Jewel. She told the crowd that Kilby Court feels like home and it’s the perfect place to experiment and because of that, she would like to try using some visuals for the first time ever. She then began to sing. Before this show I had personally never heard her music before and let me tell you, I was missing out. The next 30 minutes I felt as if all of us in the audience were transported to a magical world called “Belles Mind”. The room went completely dark with no lights other than the projector behind her playing trippy visuals. Belle was accompanied by her DJ Carlee Houghton, who mixed live and created a type of music I can best describe as EDM music but instead of traditional house or electronic music that focuses on the drops instead which highlighted Belle’s amazing voice. She graced the room with her majestic tone and had everyone swaying. The whole room was in perfect sync. Even though it was extremely dark (which made for an extremely difficult time getting photos) the visuals behind her really added to the mood and energy in the room that really felt like it took you to a new universe. On her last song, Belle ended up getting a little emotional which I think kind of reflected how everyone felt after her touching performance.
Belle recently released a new single titled, “Lovechild”. When I asked her about the roots of the new single she told me: “Lovechild” was written to help me understand two extremes: dysmorphia and self-love. Originally, I never intended to release “Lovechild” but it turned into such an anthem of what I needed to hear at the time that I wrote it.”
All in all these three girls introduced me to some unique music and made me a new fan. I look forward to seeing how far these talented artists can go one day.
