Allison Russell • Hozier • August 31, 2024 • Utah First Amphitheatre
Reviewed and Photographed by Josilyn Wakkuri Lybbert
I had the privilege of covering Allison Russell’s set as she joined Hozier for his sold-out stop on the Unreal Earth Tour at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater on August 31st. This highly sought-after show had thousands of eager fans lined up throughout the expansive parking lot and there was even a huge line at the less popular south entrance! With people queued up like that, one couldn’t help but expect that the show was going to be great if that many fans were coming to spend their Saturday night there!
Note from the Editor: When I saw that Jade Bird was coming back to Utah, I knew UCR had to cover her concert again. We’ve been lucky to have covered Jade from the beginning and are so excited where her career is going. I have had the pleasure of reviewing Jade’s previous stops in Utah so for this tour as much as I wanted to cover the show, I thought it might be interesting to get another take on this brilliant up and coming singer-songwriter. Just a few short months ago, I had the opportunity to Interview Aubree Schill of the band Roadie, an up and coming singer-songwriter in her own right. During our interview, we discussed our mutual love for Jade Bird. A lightbulb went off. “What if I had Aubree review Jade when she comes town next?” I felt like getting the perspective of an artist who is a fan as well as on the path Jade herself trod not long ago would be the fresh take on this show I was hoping for. Well, as it turns out that’s just what happened. Here is Aubree’s account of Jade’s most recent visit to Utah. It turned out just as I hoped it would.
-Kevin
One of the first things I read about Jade Bird when I discovered her music was that she had “a voice that can silence the busiest bar.” At that time, I couldn’t have agreed more, but now I think this statement could be updated: “a voice that can silence a crowd of thousands.” She played for her third time ever in Salt Lake City on April 6th in front of the largest crowd I’ve personally seen her at yet. Opening for Hozier at the Union, she braved the crowd of likely around three thousand with her voice and guitar alone. And she owned it.