Kilby Court Archives - Utah Concert Review

February 28, 2025March 4, 2025

The Backfires

The Backfires • Mercury • February 26, 2025 • Kilby Court

Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall

The rock and roll band, The Backfires, and the indie band, Mercury, put on an incredible show at Kilby Court. The band’s energy lit up the whole venue. Both bands were super supportive of each other and were grateful to be able to play the show in SLC and very excited to share their music with the SLC crowd. The crowd might have been on the smaller side; however, they really brought great energy to the show.

February 19, 2025February 19, 2025

JORDANA

Jordana • Rachel Bobbitt • February 14, 2025 • Kilby Court

Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall

It may have been pouring cold rain outside on February 14, 2025, but Jordana brought the
heat and love to a sold-out Valentine’s Day show at Kilby Court. The cozy Kilby Court was filled with happy couples, excited friend groups, and enthusiastic fans galore.

May 30, 2024June 7, 2024

Kilby Block Party 5

Kilby Block Party • May 10-12, 2024 • Utah State Fairgrounds

Reviewed and Photographed by Logan Fang

Kilby Court Block Party: Now A Salt Lake City Tradition

This May, local concertgoers and music lovers from afar returned to the Salt Lake fairgrounds for the fifth iteration of the Kilby Block Party. This year’s music festival celebrates the 25th year of its namesake, Kilby Court. For the past five years, Kilby has brought a countless number of esteemed music icons to the festival stage, including the likes of indie titans Phoebe Bridgers, Steve Lacy, and The Strokes. As the festival continues to curate a dazzling array of artists, this year’s lineup featured performances spanning several eras of indie-rock.

February 16, 2024February 16, 2024

Chance Peña

Chance Peña • Hayd • February 10, 2024 • Kilby Court

Reviewed and Photographed by Miriam Wasden

Upcoming singer-songwriter Chance Peña played a sold-out Kilby Court with Hayd. Kilby Court isn’t his only show that is sold out. In fact, his entire tour is completely sold out. It was exciting to see this budding star play in such an intimate setting. He will definitely be playing a larger venue next time he stops in Salt Lake City.

From the beginning of Hayd’s set, the feeling of the audience was known. Everyone there was into the lyrics and melody of both artists. It’s important to note how both artists were involved in the display of their performance, what I mean by this is that they were deliberate in choosing each song for their set as accompanying stories were also told.

May 22, 2023

Kilby Block Party 4

Kilby Block Party 4• May 12, 13, & 14• Utah State Fairgrounds

Reviewed and Photographed by Tomo Crestani

Bringing the biggest show they have had to this point, Kilby Block Party hosted their yearly festival, this time, at the Utah State Fairpark. The three-day festival kicked off on May 12th and wrapped up Sunday the 14th. It was a highly anticipated show as the lineup was one of the biggest lineups of any of the indie-rock festivals in the country. With headliners like, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, and many other amazing artists, it was an amazing weekend of music. One highlight that I heard many locals getting very excited about was the late addition of Dominic Fike. Coming straight off his Coachella set, there was a lot of anticipation for his show.

April 23, 2023

Michigander

Michigander•Abby Holiday• April 7, 2023• Kilby Court

Reviewed and Photographed by Alisha Gregson

I am always impressed by how exciting the concerts at Kilby Court are. While it is one of Utah’s smallest music venues, I have noticed there’s something special about the fans who gather there. Kilby draws a crowd of some of the area’s biggest music fanatics, and the energy they bring cannot be beaten. It’s even better when it’s a sold show. Like the one I had the opportunity to attend on Friday, April 7th.

Indie sing-songwriter Jason Singer, who goes by the moniker of Michigander, remembered just how much energy fans brought to his last show at Kilby Court a couple of years ago. He told the crowd it had been the most exciting show of that tour. He expected Friday night’s concert to be the best night of his current tour.

June 3, 2022

IMAG¡NARY FRIENDZ

IMAG¡NARY FRIENDZ w/ goodfellas & The Button Ups• May 26, 2022• Kilby Court

Reviewed and Photographed by Mallorie Lerman

When I arrived at Kilby Court on Thursday, I noticed a mass of people waiting to get in line into the venue. Vaccine cards and negative covid tests were being checked for admittance. The line was long but it moved steadily. The lineup for the night would be full of some great local artists. The show started off with the local band the Button Ups. They were followed by goodfellas. And the headliner of the evening would be IMAG¡NARY FRIENDZ. We have been trying to cover one of their shows for a while. For one reason or another, it hadn’t worked out. But it finally happened and we were excited to finally see these guys.

May 22, 2022

Kilby Court Block Party 3

Kilby Court Block Party 3• May 13 & 14, 2022• Library Square

Reviewed and Photographed by Jacob Moniz

Kilby Block Party!

Sartain & Saunders kicked off the summer with a bang! On the weekend of May 13th, they put on their third annual Kilby Block Party. They really stepped up the festival a ton from the previous years. They completely filled up the Salt Lake City public library grounds. Having artists like Mac Demarco, Phoebe Bridgers, Steve Lacy, Clairo, and countless other great artists playing all within 2 days. I was super excited that they provided local artists the opportunity to play the festival as well. The way the lineup schedule was laid out this year, allowed fans to be able to see any and every artist they wanted to. At maximum, there were 2 stages out of the 4 running at the same time. But each set was staggered so you could still attend both without stress.

March 28, 2022

Maisie Peters

Maisie Peters • March 23, 2022 • Kilby Court

Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe

I’ve been asked on numerous occasions if concerts are boring to me now or if they’re watered down because I’ve been to so many. The answer is always no. I’m never bored of live music and I don’t think I ever will be. The old adage in theater is that no show is ever the same. I think the same goes for concerts. The setlist might be the same, the lyrics are the same, even the venue might always be the same. But each show has a life of its own.

That was never more evident than on March 23, 2022.. I was invited to cover British popstar, Maisie Peter’s sold out show at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City. As I approached the venue I noticed an exceptionally long line. Keep in mind I arrived at Kilby Court about 5 minutes before the opener was scheduled to take the stage. I wondered what the delay was. My first thought was that there were so many people that it was taking longer to get them in than expected. But as I approached the box office I could tell it was something much different. There was no power!

February 17, 2022

Aries

Aries w/ Brakence February 14, 2022, Kilby Court

Reviewed and photographed by Kaden Severn

Love was in the air as many young couples attended artist Aries’ concert on Valentine’s night. His chill and smooth sound was perfect for the holiday. I was surprised the show was held at Kilby Court because of how big of an artist he has become. The room filled very quickly and before long Brakence came out. The young singer came out in full force rocking out to his well-known track “Dropout”!