Amos Lee August 29, 2019, Red Butte Garden

By: Blythe Penn

Photo Credit: Blythe Penn

The day of Amos Lee’s show at Red Butte Garden Outdoor Concert Series was typical of Salt Lake City at the end of summer. The searing desert sun thoroughly baked the concrete urban sprawl and was beginning to set as I caught a ride with a pedicab from the end of the venue parking lot to the entrance gates. The quick trip made light of my late arrival and I met my first friend of the night. (Thanks Carlos!) 

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Chris Brown August 23, 2019, Vivint Arena

By: Kaden Severn

Photo By: Kevin Rolfe

In the music industry, there are those who are great musicians and singers, and then there are others who are great performers; and then, there’s Chris freaking Brown! Friday night found many Utahns gathered together at the Vivint Smart Home Arena to attend the show of one of the most well known R&B artists in the world, Chris Brown on the third stop of his Indigoat tour.

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SLC Twilight-Courtney Barnett August 15, 2019, Gallivan Center

By: Evelyn Salazar

Photo By: Evelyn Salazar

Wow, Courtney Barnett can put on a show! Last Thursday’s Twilight Series was quite the concert, with a great lineup and a large turnout. Things kicked off with Salt Lake City’s very own Choir Boy. How I have never heard of them before surprised me, because they seem to have a very large following here in Utah. Their music and performance gave me some serious 80’s electronic, synth vibes and I absolutely loved it! It was fun to watch them on stage, dance along to their music and really get in the groove of things. They’re super stylish too. I was very impressed with them and added a new band to check out on my list! 

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Flying Lotus in 3D August 15, 2019, The Union

By Kaden Severn

Photo By: Kaden Severn

The future is now. Last night I attended a concert that I think could very well start many trends in the electronic/EDM world. Musician, DJ, and music producer Flying Lotus made a stop at the Union Event Center as part of his massive world tour. Bringing elements that I had never seen in a concert before. I wasn’t extremely familiar with his music but knew the second they handed me the 3D goggles when I walked into the venue, that I was in for a treat.

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SLC Twilight- Vince Staples August 8, 2019, Gallivan Center

By: Kaden Severn w/ contributions by Efrain Cuessy

Photo By: Kaden Severn

If anyone has ever doubted hip-hop fans of Salt Lake City for not being true supporters of the genre, they were dreadfully wrong. For example, last night at the Vince Staples concert at the Gallivan Center. Wednesday night was another installment in the Twilight Concert Series featuring one of rap’s rising superstars Vince Staples, best known for his smash hits like: “Norf Norf”, “Big Fish”, and “Oops.” The Twilight concert has been bringing out some absolute killer acts and Vince Staples was a perfect act to introduce Hip-Hop to the mix.

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Roselit Bone July 31, 2019, Rye Diner & Drinks

By: Katie Barber

Photo By: Andy McFarlane

Enter a dystopian timeline à la Rod Serling, and at the exact geographic midpoint between the Chihuahuan Desert and the Pacific Northwest, there is sure to be a dimly-lit bar where Roselit Bone is always the main act. This according to the Portland-based group’s first two albums, which transmit surf-rock rhythms accented by brassy conjunto that seem to transcend notions of time and geography.

While the Pacific Northwest does not seem a likely region to produce sonic epics that could reverberate across red-rock canyons and bounce off mesas, Roselit Bone proved the contrary at Rye Diner & Drinks, where the seven-piece band (normally eight, missing their pedal steel accompaniment) played the second-to-last-stop on their tour during an early evening show. As the sun set, frontwoman Charlotte McCaslin guaranteed that after the attendees finished their meals and it got a little darker, the band would “get weirder.”

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SLC Twilight- Young the Giant August 1, 2019, Gallivan Center

By: Kevin Rolfe

Photo By: Evelyn Salazar

When students return to school in a few short weeks, and they’re asked by fellow classmates for some highlights from their summer break, I’m confident that this past Thursday’s SLC Twilight with Young the Giant, The Aces and Sego will be mentioned by every student who attended the Gallivan Center on August 1.  This show had everything. Good weather, a great headliner, and two support acts with local roots and large followings of their own. This has been the strongest lineup top to bottom at Twilight this summer. This is one of those shows when you see it announced you think “Oh yeah, this is going to be good!”. And you just hope that it lives up to the expectation.  I have to say that it absolutely did. 

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SLC Twilight w/ Blind Pilot, Foxwarren & The Hollering Pines

By: Evelyn Salazar

Photo By: Evelyn Salazar

Whenever you think of a concert or live music what comes to mind?  Loud music? A crowd going nuts and dancing around? The frontman running around the stage and getting the crowd going?  Those aren’t wrong answers. But sometimes a great concert can be the opposite of all of those things. Such was the case at Last Thursday’s SLC Twilight with Blind Pilots.  If you wanted to spend a summer evening sitting outside kicking back and relaxing while listening to some great music then this was the show for you. 

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Salt City Sounds X Ambassadors July 17, 2019

By: Evelyn Salazar

Photo By: Evelyn Salazar

Outdoor, summer concerts are such a wonderful experience! They are always my favorite because by the time the headliner comes on, the sun is setting and it’s not burning hot outside. Everyone is relaxed in their seats or on the lawn and it’s so chill while people wait for the band to take the stage. It was no different with at Salt City Sounds with X Ambassadors. Before the show, the Gallivan Center filled with people of all ages. Food trucks of all kinds lined the plaza and there were a lot of choices of drinks for the 21+ crowd. Not only that, but there were stands set up with different mini-games and lots of spin the wheel for prizes games. Some fans who wanted to just chill out snagged a spot on the soft grass, laying out there blankets and snacks. Even more pumped fans headed straight to the pit to make sure they had a good view.

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UCR Interview- John McCool of Memphis McCool

By: Kevin Rolfe

Memphis McCool is a band located right here in Utah. They’ve been assembled for just a year and already they’re playing festivals, and art shows. They’ll be at Park Silly Market this Sunday, June 2. I had the opportunity to speak with John McCool about the band and his experience in music. I really enjoyed our conversation. Hope you do too! Here it is…

Utah Concert Review: So first things first, what’s your role in the band?

John McCool: All right, my name is John and I am the lead guitar player and the songwriter.  But I kind of define myself as the primary song generator.

UCR: Nice. And how did you guys all come together as a band?

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