Plain White T’s • Urban Lounge • February 18, 2024
Reviewed and Photographed by Miriam Wasden
The Urban Lounge is a small venue in Salt Lake City. It could be seen as a bar as the stage is not very high and there is VIP booth seating next to the bar. Outside of the venue, “The Urban Lounge” is burned on a wall-sized wood board, perfect for pictures if desired. I enjoyed the feeling of the venue. It felt like going to a small local bar or a garage of a new and upcoming band to hear their debut songs. The show didn’t feel very well advertised. As a frequent concertgoer, I am fairly up to date on artists coming to the area and where they will be performing. I knew nothing about the show until a week or two before.
Most times, the mix of vocals and instruments are fairly equal. But I would say that the volume distribution of the instruments seemed higher than the distribution of the vocals. The sound distribution was more noticeable to me because of the lack of audience. I had plenty of space next to me and experienced no mosh pit of any sort. Audience members were dancing in their separate groups of people more like a club atmosphere than a concert.
This is the first time that I have ever seen the Plain White T’s and they did not disappoint. This band is one of my older sisters’ favorites from high school and thus became a favorite for me. I have distinct memories of listening to ‘Hey There Delilah’ for the first time. One of the first songs I can remember aside from old country music. The band members didn’t banter with each other in comparison to other performers. Though they would come together with their instruments and have a ‘jam sesh’ with each other like no one else was there. They also had the opening band, Pollyanna, join them on stage for one of their songs in addition to shoutouts throughout their set.
Something that shocked the audience, employees, and band was a fight that broke out close to the front of the stage. A bit before the midpoint of the setlist, two men started going at each other. Once Tom Higgenson, the lead singer, got them to break it up, less than a minute later they were at each other again. The audience began chanting “Kick them out!” a few times before the venue security got everyone to part like the Red Sea to take the couple who instigated the fight out of the show. Following this, both the band and the audience mentioned how embarrassing it would be to get kicked out of a Plain White T’s concert. A cool fact that I learned from this concert is that Salt Lake City was the first place to play “Hey There Delilah” on the radio.
What was truly amazing to see and experience was the lack of videos and photos being taken by the audience members. Everyone there was truly living in the moment. With nothing else on their minds besides the show that they purchased tickets for. I wish it was more normal for people to keep their phones away during shows. I was never blocked and had a great view for the entirety of the show. Because of this little change in the experience. It was clear that the audience was mostly made up of those in their late twenties to early forties. Fans who were fans when the band had just begun their music career. When the live concert experience was much different than it is now.