Alex G • Julie • Cannibal Queen • August 21, 2024 • Gallivan Center
Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall
Under the SLC skyline in the heart of the city sits the Gallivan Center, the venue for the SLC Twilight Concert Series. Alex G was the headliner with Julie and Cannibal Queen as openers for the end-of-season sold-out show. This cozy venue nestled downtown felt so welcoming and warm, everyone was ecstatic to be there. While walking into the venue, people all around were scouting out for their perfect spot to see the stage. Some climbed to sit atop the bridge surrounded by grass, others sat on barricades and railings in between VIP and GA.
Lots of people were dancing around and singing along to the pre-show music which helped warm the crowd for the opening acts and in between the very short transitions of the bands. The excitement for the show that night was electric, even with the weather being a hot summer night. Throughout the night water bottles were being passed back into the crowd to avoid overheating, especially with all the dancing and mosh pits.
All of the bands were very considerate of this and made sure the audience was doing okay throughout their sets. This gave the crowd some support in the heat and made the experience more positive for everyone. This would be my first time seeing these bands that I have heard friends mention over the years to me, I would say that I was pleasantly surprised by the bands, music, and overall stage presence.
Cannibal Queen
Cannibal Queen came out on the stage with a gorgeous intricate black dress, fake blood smeared all over her face and body. Perfectly on-brand for the name of the band. The SLC-based musician also known as Aubrey Auclair was formerly part of the band The Rubies, that opened for various large bands and played at Kilby Block Party 3. Independently she has played numerous times at Kilby Court as well.
Her stage presence at the Gallivan Center was incredible, and you could tell how much fun she had while performing. She was my favorite performer of the night because of her stage presence. Before playing their final song of the night “Hostage,” Aubrey expressed how grateful she was to be playing the show and how thankful she was for the crowd who arrived early to see Cannibal Queen perform.
Julie:
When Julie came out with roaring applause, dozens of mosh pits started forming around the front of the pit. With shoes being thrown in the air, various crowd surfers, and people doing backflips in the middle of mosh pits, there were almost more things in the air than on the ground.
This shoegaze band from Orange County, California has currently been touring all around North America, with their debut album, my anti-aircraft friend, soon to be released on September 13th. The head banging and moshing from the crowd showed how much the audience loved this band’s sound and tone of their songs. They had to restart the last song after just beginning it; however, the whole band handled it very well and played it off as if nothing had happened and carried on beautifully. The last song felt endlessly long, which kept the crowd guessing and wanting more from the band. After their set they were handing out their guitar picks, drumsticks, and setlists to their adoring fans just beyond the barricade, all happening while the sun was setting over the city skyline.
Alex G:
The chanting from the crowd of the name Alex was roaring, Shouts of “Marry me Alex” and “We love you Alex” filled the air. I have never seen a crowd so excited to see their favorite artist. With their phones at the ready to capture their favorite song, or dancing at the back with their friends, everyone was having a wonderful time. The multi-instrumental musician’s sound combined various genres bringing fans from all over his discography together. This is not the first time performing in SLC for the Pennsylvania native. Just last year Alex G, also known as Alex Giannascoli, was performing at Kilby Block Party 4.
The music was amazing, and the combination of different instruments and tracks made it feel like you could not imagine what instruments could have made that sound. When Alex told the audience he was going to play songs such as “16 Mirrors” and “Mary” the crowd gave a roaring applause, and I could hear many excited squeals from all around me. Even with Alex announcing more songs that would be played during the encore, The crowd was chanting for “One more Song” before they even left the stage.
Throughout the show Alex thanked the crowd profusely for being there, the incredible opening acts, all the stage crew, the stage manager, the sound booth, and the venue for hosting the incredible night. He even made an announcement of a potential after-party at O’ Shucks Bar and Grill.
When everyone started to think it was time to go home, Alex G had one more surprise for the crowd and the band itself. August 21st happened to be an incredibly special night for their bassist since it was their birthday. Alex wanted the crowd to help give his band member, John Heywood, an amazing birthday night to the bassist by singing back to John, Happy Birthday. I was a bit surprised that they ended the night with the Happy Birthday sendoff instead of another one of their other songs but nevertheless I think it was still a very sweet moment to end the night off on.