Fred Again • Keenan Mathias • September 15, 2024 • Utah First Amphitheatre
Reviewed and Photographed by Austin Dayton
This weekend, British DJ and Producer Fred Again brought his “Places we’ve never been” tour to Utah, a place he has never played, as he DJ’d and sang for a huge and excited crowd at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater. With him, he brought his “brother” fellow DJ Tony and had Keenan Mathias as the supporting opening set.
Keenan Mathias
Keenan Mathias brought the crowd to life as he began his forty-five-minute set. Local to Utah, Matias is a relatively unknown DJ but that anonymity is now long gone. He quickly won the crowd over and within moments, the whole audience vibed and danced with his set. As Mathias brought his original set to a conclusion, many in the crowd, me included, found themselves asking “Who was that?” and “Where can I find his music.”
Fred Again
As the crowd waited in anticipation for Fred Again to take the stage, the lights slowly dimmed, and the stage filled with dense smoke. Over the speakers, the beginning notes and signature breaths of the track “Kyle (I found you)” emanated across the amphitheater. To the stage, grinning ear to ear, Fred took his spot at his keyboard, introducing his “brother” Tony, who took his spot to his left, both surrounded by DJ mixers and loopers. As the beats and rhythms began to be crafted live, it was clear that precedence was being set for electronic dance music concerts going forward in Utah.
Fred Again, also known as Frederick Gibson, set out on his tour just a few days previous as he played his first two dates of the tour in Denver. The title of the tour says it all when it comes to the purpose of the tour, Fred wanted to go to all the places he has never been. Utah was a pleasant surprise for both artist and fans. Usually needing to travel to big, far away festivals to see Fred, Utah fans were treated to a perfect late summer night of live dance music. In return, Fred was treated to a beautiful crowd in what he said was “a shockingly beautiful place.”
As Fred continued through his dynamic and unique set, something that brought his music to life was the huge screen that was set behind him in a portrait orientation. On that screen were images and videos of the collaborating artists such as Kodak Black, Lil Yachty, Overmono, Flowdan, Joy Anonymous, The Blessed Madona and so many more that were featured on many of his songs. Having those artists present in a digital sense added a sense of authenticity when combined with the fact that Fred was mixing the other aspects of the music live.
Though Fred has been playing music and collaborating for years and many fans have been with him since the late 2010’s he recently found a new level of fame as he found rapid success on the EDM and DJ scene in 2023, earning him several Grammy nominations in 2024, one for “Best New Artist” and one he won for “Best Dance/Electronic Album” for his “Actual Life 3” Album.
As the awards and nominations indicate, there is something special about Fred Again and the music he creates, it’s not just someone pressing a button queuing the next song to play. As Fred showed perfectly at his show, he was giving a live creation of his music on full display. Each time he builds a song in a live setting it comes out with its own unique fingerprint. His show at UTCU Amp was no different, it was a show unique to Utah, inviting everyone in attendance that night to share in the experience.
That experience that everyone was enjoying became even more intimate and real as Fred and Tony made their way into the audience, each to individual stages that had been set up about 100 feet deep into the crowd on the left and right of the sound tent. From those mini-stages, fans in the audience were given an extremely up close and personal show as well as a “look behind the curtain” as each Fred and Tony mixed and DJ’d from smaller DJ mixers. The audience was treated to a good handful of songs from those stages but the fan favorite of “Jungle” could be felt in the souls of everyone in attendance.
As Fred and Tony finished their in-crowd set, Fred was surprisingly ushered to another stage, even deeper into the crowd. On this stage was an upright piano and as Fred situated himself behind the keys, the piano began to rise, putting him within view of the whole venue. Fans who hadn’t been able to get pit tickets and thought they would be missing out on the full experience were pinching themselves as they got to experience an up close and emotional experience with Fred.
From the piano stage, Fred played a group of his piano-based songs, one of the most impactful being “peace u need.” Before playing it, he stopped and spoke to the audience about when he had first heard a saying from a friend, that saying being “I let you take a piece of me, I hope you got the peace you need.” He said it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever heard and wrote and produced the song to convey that. Several times throughout the rest of the show he stopped playing to let the crowd soak in the saying, having the crowd repeat the saying with him.
Fred Again and Tony mixed, looped, and produced an amazing live EDM show at the UFCU Amp. Drawing on a perfect mix from his new 2024 album “ten days” as well as bringing in favorites from across his discography, fans were left feeling energized, lifted, and with smiles on their face. For those who have not been to a Fred Again concert or even an EDM concert, it’s something you must experience before it can make complete sense. Give Fred a listen and you might understand why those in the grasp of Fred and his music will be back at the drop of his hat if he decides to make Utah a stop of his future tours.