Chelsea Cutler • Jeremy Zucker • Ethan Tasch • December 7, 2024 • The Complex
Reviewed and Photographed by Austin Davis
Close friends and singer-songwriters Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker brought their Brent Forever Tour to Salt Lake City, Utah this last weekend. One of only twelve stops on the tour, and second to last, both Chelsea and Jeremy brought passion, pain, and love to the stage in a full yet gentle force. Normally touring separately, the pair, who’s musical Ven diagram shares three EP albums, decided to focus a tour specifically on those shared albums and hit the road on the Brent Forever Tour. Fans of Chelsea and Jeremy were especially excited as this was the first time Cutler and Zucker had teamed up on tour. With them on their Salt Lake stop the pair brought special guest and indie folk artist Ethan Tasch.
Ethan Tasch
The cold Utah December night of the Brent Forever tour began with opener Ethan Tasch taking the stage where he was greeted by the already packed Rockwell room at the complex. Tasch quickly had the attention of thousands as he began singing with his signature melodic and soothing voice.
Though his voice was the soul of his music, Tasch’s playful and bright use of instruments was also on full display, even commenting at one point that the way he had met Jeremy Zucker was when Jeremy had put a call out on social media for somebody who played banjo, Tasch said he was the one who responded to that call. If one didn’t know any better, it would have been easy to believe that the crowd was there just to see him, singing and dancing. It seemed the folk singer finished his set with approximately 2,500 more fans than he started the show with. Warmed and ready, the crowd sent Tasch off with a roar of applause, now prepared for the Duo they came for.
Chelsea & Jeremy
Opening their set with “ashes & rust” Chelsea and Jeremy made their way onto the stage that had been set up to reflect an intimate and warm living room. Taking a seat on the couch, Chelsea began to sing, the audience growing silent almost immediately. From a dining room chair across the set, Jeremy’s voice joined in perfect harmony. A chill fell across the entire room as everyone began to realize what they were about to see and hear for the next few hours. Adding to the set, above the two was another stage surrounding their set, on this stage, were eight other musicians, playing the drums, violins, bass, and keys.
As mentioned above, both Chelsea and Jeremy are usually solo artists both of which have come separately to Utah many times in the past. Then something special happened in 2019 with the release of five songs on the EP “brent.” For the first time, the solo artists came together and created something that almost immediately caught fire. As fans began to beg for a tour from the two, instead, they got something just as good, a second EP in 2021 called “brent ii.” No tour followed but again another EP was to come, this time the duo released what they called the final brent EP with “brent iii” in 2024. With the final EP album also came the news that fans of both had been waiting for – The Brent Forever Tour.
From the beginning of their set, it was clear that Salt Lake was getting a special show. “ashes & rust” was followed by “black & white” and then “terrible things.” All these songs together formed a melancholy anthem that everyone in the audience seemed to take up as their war cry/therapy session.
Clear to everyone in the audience, Chelsea’s and Jeremy’s chemistry was as visible as it was audible. At one point in the set Chelsea took some time to sing some solos, “love you into loving me”, “the stars” and “sometimes,” the entire time Jeremy watched from the couch with pure joy and love in his eyes, grinning ear to ear, phone in hand filming. Though it would be easy to confuse the two for lovers, the two friends share a bond of just that, best friends, only met in 2016. Later in the set, it was Jeremy’s turn to take the spotlight; Chelsea assumed the role of admiring best friend. From song to song, it truly felt like we were being let behind the curtain to see into the true love they both shared with and for each other.
Though the sold-out audience was singing along with every song, a few tracks took the spotlight, having the audience step up to the plate as if they were a choir hired to sing with the duo. “please” and “you were good to me” all took the crowd to a new level of connection. That connection was reciprocated when Jeremy took some time to talk to the audience, letting all know how special Salt Lake was to each of them, even alluding to an industry secret that Salt Lake is one of the best places to perform.
Many in attendance that night signaled with cheers when he asked who had been to his Kilby Court set years earlier and the same sentiment was given to Chelsea when she reminisced about her previous SLC sets. With the love they both were feeling, Chelsea even shared that she had been having a truly terrible day that day, but this crowd and concert had turned things completely around for her.
Before anyone could realize it, the night was drawing to a close. One song in particular was being waited on by most in attendance. With a final thank you to the audience, Jeremy took a set on the upper stage, Chelsea sitting at the piano, the two gave their last performance of the night, “this is how you fall in love.” Couples around the entire venue embraced each other as they sang along word for word.
The night that Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker gave to Salt Lake City on December 7th will be a special memory for all those who were in attendance. Though you may not have the chance to see the two together in the near future, go see either one of them if you are looking for a night of perfect vocals and music that bring feelings of pain, loss, and love right to the surface.