Category: Concert Reviews

If you’ve ever seen Luke Bryan in concert you know a few things: 1. Women (and some men) will never tire of Luke shaking his booty, 2.  There is no better place to people watch in the state of Utah (and I’ll explain why) and 3. It doesn’t matter if you know one Luke Bryan song or all of them, you know that Luke likes to sing about.  Loving people, and drinking.

Luke Bryan draws from a number of areas to bring an outstanding performance for his fans.  He may not be the strongest singer in country music, but people love his songs and performance so much that it just doesn’t matter.  He may not be the next Glen Campbell when it comes to playing guitar. But who is? But he plays well enough to do an entire acoustic set in his shows, and no one is complaining.  He may not be the world’s greatest dancer or booty shaker.. oh wait, he might be.  His fans love the booty shake! I may not be the one to make that call. He really might be the best booty shaker. To his fans, he clearly is.  Anyway, my point is, his combination of talents and his fan-friendly songs are why he once again played to a packed USANA Amphitheater.  

As I mentioned, the people watching is amazing at a Luke Bryan concert.  It has already been well reported that Luke’s booty and hip shaking are a major reason why his fans are there to see him.  Because of this, the fan reaction to this is something to behold. The way these fans react to Luke’s moves is

Continue reading “Luke Bryan September 21, 2018 USANA Amphitheater”

 

By: Kevin Rolfe

For those who’ve seen a concert at Velour Live Music Gallery, you know that your experience there will generally consist of young, college-aged up and coming bands.  On the rare occasion you’ll see a band that has their origin in Provo and at Velour return from the road to do a homecoming show. And on the rarest of occasions, you’ll see someone in their 70’s stopping through town to play this venue.  Well, last night was that very rare occasion. Jim Avett, the 71 year old father of his famous sons, The Avett Brothers, played what looked like a sold out seated show on Wednesday night.

Continue reading “Jim Avett September 19, 2018 Velour Provo Utah”

By: Kevin Rolfe

I was invited ten months ago to cover Jade Bird’s opening set for Son Little at The State Room.  The last thing I wrote in that article was “I fully expect her to be headlining show in Salt Lake City in the future.”.  Well, folks, the future is now. Jade played her first headlining show in Salt Lake City in only her second ever stop in our city.

Playing Kilby Court is like a right of passage for musicians.  It’s small, it’s a little worse for the wear, and yet, how happy are we when bands come play a large venue and they say something to the effect of “I remember playing down the street at Kilby Court!”?  And the joy of having seen them there first! Well, Jade is an artist on the rise and one day she’ll be saying those words.

Continue reading “Jade Bird September 12, 2018 Kilby Court Salt Lake City, Utah”

By: Justin Hicken

Collective Soul has developed a strong relationship with their fans in Utah.  Last night’s performance at the Days of ‘47 Arena on the Utah State Fairgrounds was the third straight summer they have toured through the state.  Bands usually don’t come back that often if they aren’t well received here, and Collective Soul is very well received in Utah.

Before we discuss the show, there is one nit that needs to be picked. Continue reading “Collective Soul September 12, 2018 Days of ’47 Arena Salt Lake City”

I have been wanting to see a show at The Commonwealth Room ever since it opened in May of this year.  When I saw that Midge Ure was going to be playing there I was excited to know that I’d be seeing one of my favorite artists play this new venue.  Of course, I thought I would have attended at least a couple shows at The Commonwealth Room by the time Midge arrived, but for one reason or another, Midge’s “Soundtrack of Your Life” tour with Paul Young would be my first venture in the venue brought to us by the folks from The State Room.  

I was totally impressed with The Commonwealth Room.  It’s laid out similarly to The State Room in downtown Salt Lake City, but I’d say it’s more long, where The State Room is wide.  The sound in there is great, and there isn’t a bad view of the stage in the house. When the show was over we were kind of rushed to leave by security.  That was a little disappointing because my understanding is Midge usually comes out to the merch table after the show. I felt like that was what most the people still hanging out were waiting for.  But they were friendly in their escorting us out of the venue. So that’s nice. It would have been nice to have met Midge after the show though. 

When I spoke with Midge a week ago, he mentioned that the flip of a coin would determine whether he or Paul would go on first.  The coin landed on Midge and he opened the night. There was no opening act so he went on right after 8 o’clock. I must admit, Midge was who I was there to see, so I was hoping he would get to close the show.  Nevertheless, there he was on stage first. The benefit of that coin flip was I wouldn’t have to wait to see him. Once he was out there, I was worried about who was on first or last, I was just excited to be seeing him again.

Midge Ure

Midge opened with one of my favorite Ultravox songs “Passing Strangers”.  It was immediately obvious that this wasn’t only a favorite of mine, but a favorite of the entire audience.  The truth is, this was a very pro Midge Ure crowd. It almost didn’t matter what he said or played, the audience was behind him.  He even jokingly chastised a fan who was on their phone in the front row. He asked “Are you checking your Facebook? Is it that boring?”.  He said it all with a smile on his face, and the audience laughed and cheered. He mentioned, “They don’t realize that it illuminates their face like the sun.”.  I think it really did annoy him, but he pulled it off in a humorous way so that it didn’t create an awkward moment and ruin the positive energy of the show. But here’s a tip folks, maybe if you’re in the front row of a concert, don’t check your social media accounts.  Artists don’t seem to mind having their pictures taken, or even being videoed. But it has to be difficult not to take it personally when someone is looking at their email, or Instagram when they’re working their hardest to entertain you on stage. So please keep that in mind.  

Ure played a condensed set due to the double headlining nature of this tour.  I thought he did a great job mixing in his solo hits like “Dear God” and “If I Was”, with Visage hits like “Fade to Grey”.  Of course, the majority of his hour on stage was spent performing Ultravox classics like “Hymn”, “All Stood Still”, and the audience favorite “Vienna”. The crowd sang along and applauded each one of these songs.  These singles were never huge hits in America. So I think those in attendance delighted in the opportunity to hear these songs live. It took them back to a time when they really had to mine these gems from record shops and college radio.  Midge sounded fantastic and he was a pleasure to hear.

Midge also mentioned how talented the musicians he had hired to play for him and Paul Young on this tour.  They come from the Berklee School of Music in Massachusetts. And he was absolutely right, they were fantastic.  Not only with Midge, but with Paul as well. The three-piece consisted of bass, drums, and keyboards. The songs they were playing were most certainly older than them, but they played them with the proper styling and purpose that you’d hope to hear from a band playing music from a specific era of music.  I was really impressed with each one of them.

Midge’s set seemed so short.  It ran for eleven songs and for only one hour which felt like twenty minutes.  When he walked off stage, I looked around and many of the people around me stated the same sentiment to their friends.  “That’s it?” The song suspiciously missing from his set was “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”. I think this left fans disappointed. I’ve noticed on other setlists on this tour the song was performed.  Curious why he didn’t play it. But I think fans being disappointed is sort of a compliment. “Leave them wanting more!” they say. And the crowd most certainly wanted more Midge Ure.

Midge Ure Setlist
Passing Strangers
Dear God
If I Was
Become
New Europeans
Fade to Grey
I Remember (Death in the Afternoon)
Fragile
Vienna
All Stood Still
Hymn

Paul Young

 

Paul walked on to the stage with the same backing band as Midge, but he brought with him his lead guitarist, Jamie Moses.  The song “Some People” began. The crowd clapped along to the beat, and then cheered when Paul made his appearance onto the stage. I thought Paul looked great.  He seemed happy to be in a great mood, joking with the audience and at times I noticed him joking around with the band mid-song.  

I thought there were times where Paul sounded great.  His voice has aged but he generally knows just the right area in a song to place his voice so that it still sounds good.  I always respect the professionalism of an artist that can adjust their voice to a song when they can no longer sing it like they did when they were younger.  Singers like Bono or even Midge come to mind. They find a new way to interpret a song so that it has the same impact, we’re just taken there in a different way.  So it was with Paul. The soulful raspiness of his voice brought the house down many times.

I thoroughly enjoyed guitarist Jamie Moses.  For one, he’s extremely talented. His playing gave Paul’s set a real soulful and bluesy feel.  The way Jamie and Paul engaged with each other was fun.  Jaime really added to the music and blended perfectly with the three other guys in the band.  It was a great move for Paul to bring him on tour.

I would say the only unfortunate thing was that after Midge’s set, a good number of people left.  So I’d say the audience for Paul was only about half of what it was for the beginning of the night.  That didn’t seem to bother Young because he still sang his heart out, and danced as if the place was at capacity.  Another admirable quality of a true professional. And those who stayed were delivered a good time.

Paul Young spanned his career catalog to the enjoyment of the crowd.  Songs like “Love of the Common People” which was featured on the Sixteen Candles soundtrack, and “Get ‘em Up, Joe” were well liked.  He received especially strong ovations when he sang “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” and of course, his biggest hit,  “Everytime You Go Away”.  On the latter song, the audience sang along, and as I looked around people were signing it to each other with smiles on our faces.

Those that stuck around for the entire night were treated to an encore that included both Paul Young and Midge Ure on the stage together.  They covered the Thin Lizzy song “Boys are Back in Town”. Which was particularly exciting because Midge actually spent time as a member of Thin Lizzy in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  It was the most rocking song of the night so it seemed to give the band and Jamie a chance to really go for it. It was fun. Jamie and Midge would go back and forth with guitar riffs. I think this was a real pleasant surprise to the audience and they loved it.  

This was a really fun night and a ride back to the 80’s.  I think the general sentiment from the attendees was “More Midge”.  It was who they were there to see. I think they were surprised how much they enjoyed Paul Young, but at least for Utah, I think they would have preferred Paul open, and Midge give them a full set.  

I did enjoy Paul Young. He hadn’t played Utah in over twenty years so it was great to have him back.   They seemed to enjoy touring together. And the fact that they played together in the encore was a solid indicator of that. You don’t always see that with bands. Many times an artist or band that has already played will head out on the road or go back to the hotel when they’re done.  So it was cool to see these guys actually perform together.  I do want a full set from Midge, but tonight was not that show.  I still enjoyed it very much. I guess he’ll just have to come see us again soon.  

How do I go about discussing the Smashing Pumpkins Shiny and Oh So Bright tour, featuring a reunited line up of Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin?  How do I begin to comb over the 32 song setlist with all but 4 or 5 songs being from their first five albums? I should probably just share the setlist and let you imagine what this evening was like.  Nevertheless, I shall make my attempts to review what was a lengthy, and epic night from one of the greatest alt-rock bands of all time. Is that how you would classify them? Alt-rock? Or nineties rock?  How about 90’s alt- rock? That feels like a solid compromise.

Continue reading “Smashing Pumpkins September 4, 2018 Vivint Arena”

Dierks Bentley brought his Mountain High Tour to USANA Amphitheater this past Wednesday with The Brothers Osborne and LANCO.  There was some shuffling of dates to make this show happen. I believe the concert was originally supposed to take place in July, then it was rescheduled for August 30, and finally, August 29 was the date they settled in on.  Dierks mentioned later in the show that he changed the date because the University of Utah was playing their football opener against Weber State on August 30th and didn’t want to conflict with that. I’m not sure if that was the real reason, or in jest, but the crowd sure loved it regardless.  

Continue reading “Dierks Bentley w/ Brothers Osborne August 29, 2018 USANA Amphitheater”

By: Tiffany Mull

I’m always fascinated by the crowd drawn to particular artists. There are definite patterns and traits, a continuity that falls in line with the artist’s style. Looking around the Stone Temple Pilots/Bush/The Cult/Bones audience, I see an abnormal amount of men in billed hats (the metal/biker kind, not sports). There is also an abnormal amount of facial hair. These aren’t hipster beards, though. These are I’ve-never-had-to-go-to-an-auto-mechanic-for-anything-in-my-life beards. There is a higher number of women in tank tops with big, Amy Winehouse hair (okay, maybe not quite that big) and heavy eye makeup than you would see on a normal day. Everyone looks like they lift.

Continue reading “Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, The Cult, Bones August 20, 2018 USANA Amphitheater”

By: Kevin Rolfe

We had to wait a long time for Erasure to return to Salt Lake City.  Ok, so it was about four years, but it felt like a really long time! Typically when Erasure comes out with a new album, their tour makes its way to The States fairly soon after their album is released.  The album World Be Gone came out in May of 2017, and instead of heading out on their own tour, Erasure accepted an invitation from Robbie Williams to be his support act on his summer stadium tour throughout Europe.  What a great opportunity to gain new fans that must have been. In watching several YouTube clips I found it so cool to see Erasure play in front of a new crowd that might not know all of their music. I saw them singing along to the songs they knew like “A Little Respect”, “Chains of Love”, or “Stop”, and applauding songs they weren’t familiar with, but really enjoyed.  However, this tour delayed them from setting out on their own headlining tour. I was happy for them that they were so well received though.

Continue reading “Erasure August 11, 2018 Kingsbury Hall Salt Lake City”

The Park City Institute is a non-profit organization, dedicated to bringing world-class performances and new ideas to the community have had an interesting turn of events leading up to this year’s St. Regis Big Stars Bright Nights Concert Series.  In December they were informed by Deer Valley Resort that they would no longer be hosting the series because they were going to be setting up a concert series of their own. This sent The Park City Institute on a months-long search to find a new home in time to host the great lineup of music they had scheduled.  

Initially, they landed on Quinn’s Junctions Sports Complex, but fate would eventually lead them to City Park in the heart of Park City.  While City Park may not be the most ideal place to host a concert series, once things get going, it was as good an outdoor venue as any.  Some of the setbacks are well, it’s in the middle of a park. So you can go take your kid to the playground, and catch a free concert because there is no more than a temporary fence that is easy to see past.  The same goes for the street and sidewalk. I noticed maybe a hundred people watching the show from outside the “venue”. So I guess the venue isn’t ideal for keeping people looking for a free show out. Otherwise, it does just fine.  The stage is big enough, the sound is good, and there really isn’t a bad seat in the house, I mean park. The show in the series I was fortunate enough to attend was Don Felder, former lead guitarist for The Eagles.

Be for Don Felder took the stage a couple of women from the Park City Institute made an announcement from the stage that the organization was in need of up to $500,000 in donations or the concert series may not continue.  Those in attendance seemed concerned because it was apparent that they enjoyed coming to the series. It’s a great organization, and the concert series lineup is always good. So if you have the means, please donate. You can find all the info here.  

The transition from that announcement to Don Felder taking the stage was an awkward one.  It was just quiet, with no one introducing Don, then a video came on giving him an introduction.  I’m not sure how to have made that transition smoother, but it definitely could have been. However, Don took the stage, opened with “Already Gone” and things were smooth from there. 

 

Don next played “Pride and Joy”, a song originally written and performed by iconic guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Now to attempt to cover Stevie Ray Vaughan is one thing, but to do it really well is another. Now, I fully understand that SRV is one of a kind, and to his fans, no one will match him.  But I will say that Don Felder’s cover of “Pride and Joy” was great. It paid its respects to the original, and to Stevie, but it showed off the guitar playing chops that Don Felder truly has.  If was one of my favorite songs of the night.

When Don played “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, he told the audience “You look like a peaceful crowd.”  I’m sure he was referring to the fact that most of the people there were still sitting in their chairs or on their blankets.  This isn’t to say that they weren’t into the show. They really were. But they weren’t up and dancing like I’m sure most artists would prefer.  I think some of this has to do with the show starting so early. There was an opener that went on at 6, and Don took the stage by 7. It was light out for the entirety of the concert. I think when it’s light out people are more hesitant to get up and dance.  That is at least until the alcohol kicks in!

Don dedicated “Tequila Sunrise” to his former Eagles bandmate, the late Glenn Frey.  The audience cheered their approval. Glenn Frey passed away unexpectedly in 2016 at 67 due to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia.  It was a class move by Felder and another strong moment in the show.

With about four or five songs to go, Don invited everyone to get out of their seats, come to the front of the stage and party.  There’s about a fifteen-foot gap between the stage and the front row of chairs and it filled up really quick. It was clear that the invitation to “party” was well received.  I’m sure artists are hoping that the audience will just jump to their feet on their own, but sometimes it just takes an invitation to do so and the whole place gets up. I admire Don for throwing out the invite.  It felt like the concert really took off from there. With songs like “Life in the Fast Lane”, “Heartache Tonight”, and “Take it Easy”, it was obvious to see why people were so willing to get up and dance and sing along.  

Felder finished the night by walking on stage with his infamous white double neck guitar.  This is the very guitar that he wrote “Hotel California” on. So when we saw the guitar, we knew what was next.  The crowd cheered, sang along, and stood in awe as Don Felder played the instantly recognizable guitar solos of “Hotel California”.  

When the song finished, Don thanked the audience, acknowledged his band (Who were fantastic.  Seriously, so talented!), and walked off stage, never to return.  The crowd wanted more, and they cheered until it was obvious that the show was over. People have different feelings about the whole encore thing.  And I think Don would have done an encore, but when you’re playing in a venue that has a temporary stage in a park, sometimes there isn’t anywhere to go.  So walking off stage and back on for an encore might be more awkward than just staying there and playing straight through. I’m sure “Hotel California” is usually his encore, so I can’t imagine we missed anything other than the ceremonial walk off stage, walk back on stage.  

I had a great time at this show.  Don Felder is a really entertaining performer and an amazing guitarist.  It was a fun and beautiful night at City Park.