Although Ryan Hurd has had a successful career writing for Country Music’s biggest stars, he also enjoys writing for himself. With his visit to The Depot in Salt Lake City, Ryan became one show closer to closing out his “Pelago Tour”. Bringing along rising country star Morgan Wade, there was plenty of exciting music to be heard.
On May 5th, movie star Dennis Quaid arrived in Park City to show off his musical talent to a theater full of adoring fans. When I was first asked to cover his concert I had to read the name a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. I had no idea that the same Dennis Quaid I have grown up watching on the big screen also performed live music. It would be easy to go on and on about how talented of an actor Quaid is, but since this is a review of his concert I will leave his many well-loved movies for another day.
The English Beat w/ The Mad Professor• April 29, 2022• The Commonwealth Room
Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe
There are times when I’ll see a concert on the calendar and know without any doubt that it’ll be a good time. That’s exactly how it was when I saw The English Beat on the schedule. I grew up with The Englis Beat, or The Beat, as they’re known in England being played on early MTV and on my brother’s record player. The songs are so familiar and always take me back to that young time in my life. As I’ve aged, (boy have I aged!) I’ve been able to appreciate the music more and more. They were one of the major bands of the ska music revival in England and a huge player in the New Wave, Post Punk generation.
The English Beat has a dedicated fan base here in Utah. They’ve played everywhere from Red Butte Gardens to the Complex to Soda Row in Daybreak. Their shows are always well attended and the crowd is always a lively bunch.
Alice in Chains lead guitarist, co-lead singer, and principal songwriter, Jerry Cantrell brought his “Brighten Tour” to The Depot in Salt Lake City. Cantrell is one of the best guitarists around, and I had never seen him live, solo or with Alice in Chains. So I was definitely looking forward to this concert. Utah is fortunate to be getting a double dose of Jerry Cantrell this year as Alice in Chains will be stopping by USANA Amphitheatre in late August.
With an exciting new album in the works, legendary rapper Freddie Gibbs visited The Complex in Salt Lake City. Having sold out weeks before the show, there were many people outside the box office who had been scammed with fake tickets. The venue handled it very well in helping those fans find a way to attend the show or get their money back. That was basically the only negative thing I saw happen at the show. (Which is obviously not the artist’s or venue’s fault.) Although not featured in the previous 2 shows, Freddie brought along a second opener for this show. The two openers featured in Salt Lake were Redveil and MIKE. Having had the opportunity to listen to all three artists before the show, I was excited to see how they performed each song.
When I first had been offered the opportunity to attend and photograph Teddy Swims at his Utah stop on his Tough Love tour I was excited for multiple reasons. One was the fact that this entire tour run was close to being completely sold out at every date. Salt Lake didn’t disappoint and had completely sold out the show. Another reason is that I was excited to see Teddy Swims perform for the first time ever. I’ve known of Teddy Swims for quite some time and the one thing I’ve always kept in mind was the energy that Teddy Swims has carried with him as a person would only mean that he’d put on an amazing performance.
On Tuesday, April 26th, Psychedelic Rock band The Flaming Lips brought their colorful show to The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. I was familiar with a couple of their songs. In preparation for the night I checked out a few videos from their past concerts. With the research I did, I knew that this concert would be one of a kind.
I arrived at 7:00 just as the doors were about to open. Outside stood a line of excited fans ready to be entertained. I was however surprised to see that the crowd for the night was much smaller than I expected. The band often plays to a sold-out audience, including their previous sold-out shows at the Ogden Twilight Concert Series. My guess is that many local fans may have actually traveled to Denver to catch their show the night before. Denver is known for having a bigger psychedelic scene. Or possibly fans are expecting them to return to Ogden Twilight, which is unfortunately not the case this year.
There is no doubt in my mind that the best way to start a week is with a concert. To top it all off is with a rock concert. That is exactly what I signed myself up for this last Sunday with The Warning headlining at The Complex. I hadn’t heard of either Devora or The Warning previously but I’m never opposed to hearing new artists. Especially if my first time hearing them would be live.
Zions Bank Broadway at the Eccles is Excited to Announce the upcoming 2022-2023 Broadway Season featuring Moulin Rouge!, Tina and Les Misérables and more!
Salt Lake City, UT – Broadway Across America is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Broadway at the Eccles season, bringing the best of Broadway to Salt Lake City. The season begins with two weeks of the smash Broadway hit Moulin Rouge! The Musical, winner of 10 Tony Awards – including Best Musical last year, followed by the Detroit Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, and you can’t stop the beat when an all new production of Hairsprayreturns in April. The season continues with the premiere of Tina – The Tina Turner Musical and one of Utah’s favorites Les Misérables plays an extremely limited two-week engagement opening in June of 2023. Concluding the season is the musical comedy, Beetlejuice, based on Tim Burton’s hilarious film.