Indigo Girls • Amos Lee • September 17, 2024 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
Reviewed and Photographed by Marlo Matamoros
Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls co-headlined to a sold-out crowd on September 17th at the Red Butte Garden for their outdoor concert series. The Indigo Girls are a folk-rock duo from Atlanta Georgia. The duo consists of Amy Ray and Emily Sailers who grew up together. The duo has a Grammy win for Best Contemporary Folk Recording and a documentary on Netflix that just released last year on their 40-year music journey. Indigo Girls have a huge discography with hits such as “Closer to Fine”, “Least Complicated”, “Ghost”, and “Kid Fears”. The duo can both play the guitar and sing. The duo is known for being activists and working on issues such as immigration reform, LGBTQ advocacy, Native American rights, and death penalty reform. Indigo Girls have performed on the NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert series and have also toured with the Bon Iver.
Amos Lee
Amos Lee is from Philadelphia and graduated with an English degree from the University of South Carolina. also has an extensive discography. He would go on to teach before pursuing music full-time. Amos Lee’s “Mission Bell” album hit number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart. He has toured with Norah Jones, Adele, Dave Matthew Band, Zac Brown Band, and Bob Dylan. Amos Lee released a new album this year titled “Transmissions”. Amos Lee has performed in Salt Lake City before and will be making his return.
The clock hit 7 pm and Amos Lee would hit the stage. He wore a bright pink beanie that could be seen all the way from the back of the amphitheater. He joked and compared the amphitheater to his heart which is empty in the middle and full around the edges. The amphitheater would become full closer to 7:30 but he did follow up by mentioning that Red Butte is one of the best places to play and that he loves everyone there at the show. Throughout the show, he would constantly shout out his band and the other members of his team.
Amos Lee would play “Carry You On” early in his set and it was one of my favorite performances. The amphitheater would go silent for this intimate performance, and you could sense this calmness in the air. After this performance, he would interact with the crowd after someone shouted out a song request. Amos Lee responded by asking them if they liked the song titled “Colors” second to the requested song, but they said no, and he responded by saying that they would like it when they get older.
Another stand-out performance was when Amos Lee invited his bassist Solomon Dorsey to the stage to perform Violin. This was another silent performance until Solomon Dorsey hit his notes then the crowd reacted with cheer. This was another instance in his set where Amos Lee showed us how much he appreciated his team. Around 8 pm is when you could feel the cold in the air, and everyone would take out their blankets.
One of the last songs that Amos Lee would perform was “Lucky Ones” which is off his new album Transmissions. He mentioned that he was only going to play part of it and wanted to perform the song here because he was asked if he could perform at a wedding for someone the last time. Amos was here but couldn’t do it. He dedicated the performance to the couple. Amos said they could get up and dance to it if they were there.
Indigo Girls
The sky was dark, the amphitheater was full, and the crowd was still dancing between sets in anticipation for the Indigo Girls. The Indigo Girls would finally hit the stage performing their songs “Shame On You”, and “Power Of Two”. The “Power Of Two” was an intimate performance and is a song full of hope, love, and like the title suggests we’re fine with the power of two people. Like Amos Lee, the Indigo Girls had their band on stage with them as they performed their hits.
By the time the Indigo Girls had hit the stage the moon was also out and was right above the mountains and stage painting a great scene for everyone in the crowd. The Indigo Girls would also joke with the crowd and ask if it was going to snow tonight. At this point it was 55 degrees outside and Emily from the duo said that the night reminded her of an early swim team practice by how cold it was. There were many people up front next to the stage dancing throughout the set and people in the back taking photos of the stage and moon right above. Indigo Girls would go on to end the night with their songs “Look Long”, “Tether”, and “Closer To Fine”.
I was excited to photograph and review both Indigo Girls and Amos Lee knowing how much experience they both have in the music industry. I had never photographed at the Red Butte Garden before but quickly realized how the amphitheater complimented both Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls. If you haven’t seen either live, I would highly recommend it the next time they are in town.
