Real Estate • March 5, 2024 • Urban Lounge
Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe
Indie Rock band, Real Estate played at the Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City. They mentioned it was their sixth time playing at the venue. The venue and the band made for a good match. The show was sold out so it was clear that people of Utah were familiar and excited to have the band back in town. This would be my first time seeing the band. I had heard good things, so I was eager to finally get to see Real Estate live.
The venue was packed. The Urban Lounge doesn’t have a photo pit, so when the venue is filled with people, it can get a little tricky to find a place to get good shots. I really appreciated not only the Urban Lounge staff and security but also the fans for being so accommodating. One group sitting in the table suites that sit higher than the venue floor generously invited me to stand with them to grab a few shots. People were great and I did my best to capture this entertaining band.
If you’ve read my reviews before, you’ll know that I love it when a show has its own unique twist. In the case of this concert, Real Estate announced that their keyboard player, Matt Kallman would not be at the show because he returned home to witness the birth of his child. I think that’s a pretty valid reason to miss a show. The audience seemed to support the absence and the band soldiered on with the show without Matt. Congratulations and best wishes to the Kallman family.
While keys can be an essential element of Real Estate’s music, I thought it was fun to hear what these songs would sound like without. I’m the kind of person that will listen to 10 different versions of songs, so this was fun for me. I thought the band sounded great and didn’t miss a beat.
Time seemed to fly by as Real Estate blazed through theri 17 song set. Some crowd favorites were “Crime”, “Wonder Years”, and “Talking Backwards”. The crowd was in great spirits as they sang along and moved to the music. It seemed to me that the band was really loving how much this crowd was enjoying the show.
Bassist, Alex Bleeker shared with the crowd that this was the first show in a little while that they had merch to sell. Their merch had been on a train that had unfortunately derailed so they were left without merch to sell at some prior shows. No band, besides KISS, enjoys plugging their merch from the stage. And Bleeker, while noticeably not loving making the pitch, understandably notified the crowd that the merch had arrived. He told us that selling these items helped to keep them on the road. I was happy to see a long line at the merch table after the show. I think that might have been the case otherwise, but letting us know that they hadn’t sold any merch in a while probably helped sell a few extra shirts and vinyls
The main set ended with “Darling”. Real Estate fans were fore sure excited for this one. It was obvious how much they enjoyed the song. The band returned to the stage and were greeted by thunderous applause. Bleeker shared with us that this was a true encore because their ovation was so loving they had to come back. All in all it was a great night at the Urban Lounge. Real Estate will no doubt be back in Salt Lake City and I anticipate another sold out show.