Last week at The Union Event Center, Foster the People played a loooong-awaited headline show on their Paradise State of Mind tour, returning to Salt Lake City after 7 years! I was really stoked to see them for the first time! They’ve been a staple band for me since I was in middle school, and I know many people who attended were probably also seeing them for the first time. They just released their 4th album last summer, ‘Paradise State of Mind’. This one is such a feel-good, psychedelic, and pure Foster the People-sounding record.
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.
I have found that whenever a vocalist in a band decides to go solo, things can go one of two ways. They create something interesting, and enjoyable and I become a fan of their work outside of the band from where I know them. The other is they try too hard to be different from the music we know them from. Or they aren’t able to put an album of songs together without their bandmates that their fans can connect with enough. I can understand the desire to try to make your own music and create an album trying different styles and techniques. It can be a risk, but I can’t blame an artist for wanting to do that. I personally enjoyed Lauren’s debut solo album, Vicious Creature. It was exciting to see that Mayberry announced a show in Salt Lake City. I couldn’t wait to hear these songs live.
Spencer Sanders live at The Rise in Provo, UT was a night full of folk sounds and storytelling through whimsical melodies. With family, friends, and family in attendance, The Rise made for a close and intimate stage setup. Allowing the artist to interact with the crowd and celebrate their music in a cozy way.
Ramin Karimloo and The Broadgrass Band • January 24, 2025 • BYU Concert Hall
Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe
Photographed by Molly McCoy
I find it interesting the way we discover the artists we come to like. Back in the day, we’d hear a song on the radio, buy the album, and fall in love with a band by listening to them over and over. Sometimes, we’ll see a band or singer open a concert for someone we intend to see, and they end up becoming one of our favorites. More often today, we hear a song on TikTok or Instagram and go down the rabbit hole looking for more music than just the 30-second clip we heard. When it comes to becoming a fan of a star of musical theater it can be a little trickier. Most often we’ll hear a cast album and fall in love with a voice. From then on, pay attention to what they’ve done or will end up doing.
We’ve had the opportunity to attend Collective Soul in concert multiple times. The takeaway from each concert we’ve been to is authenticity. This is such an authentic band. They genuinely seem to enjoy themselves on stage. Collective Soul seems to really appreciate their audience, and they appear to genuinely care about each other. Those elements make for a great concert experience. This Collective Soul concert at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City was no exception.
almost monday • Adrian Lyles • January 24, 2025 • Soundwell SLC
Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall
almost monday brought incredible energy to their sold-out show, and the first night of their “Dive” tour, to Soundwell in downtown Salt Lake City. Fans of both bands didn’t disappoint and were so warm and welcoming to both almost monday and Adrian Lyles. The crowd’s energy shook the whole venue, they were definitely excited.
When I think of tribute bands, the first band that comes to mind is The Beatles. But in what has to be a close second at this point is ABBA. Over years, I have seen a major increase in the amount of ABBA tribute bands. It’s clear that Utah is a hot spot for ABBA fans. It seems whether it’s a tribute show or a regional production of the ABBA musical, Mama Mia, fans show up to see the songs of one of their favorite bands performed. The Depot was the perfect location for ABBA fans to turn out on a cold Thursday night to be warmed up by this extremely danceable music. The show was a rare seated event at The Depot, but as I’m sure you can imagine, the seats were not used for long or very often.
The “stars” on the ceiling of the Eccles Theater felt like a snowy scene when the Christmas band, Mannheim Steamroller, took the stage in SLC on December 16th, 2024. As the crowd filed into their seats in their fanciest holiday outfits, holiday cheer was undoubtedly in the air.
The up-and-coming Carter Faith started the show with a bang, immediately causing the crowd to be shouting and swaying about. The North Carolinian moved to Nashville after college to pursue country music and was met with overwhelming success. Faith was named as “the future of the next 10 years of Nashville” by the Whisky Jam founder (a music venue in Nashville that hosts artists before they become household names) along with being named a “Rookie of the Month” by Billboard in March of 2022. Spotify also put Faith on their “Hot Country Artists to Watch” list, a huge accomplishment.
Carter Faith’s energy warmed the crowd in a dreamy manner. The flow of her dress and songbird voice were immaculate, adding to the atmosphere of her performance. Funnily enough, Faith said that she wrote one of her most popular songs, “Lasso,” while watching the TV show Yellowstone, which made the crowd laugh as the headliner for the night, Luke Grimes, played a major role in the show.
The song “Grudge” also really got the crowd moving, based on how “When you live in a small town, word gets around… and every time after you find out, you’re going to find out about it” stated Faith, while also prefacing the song with how “It’s a joke y’all, Jesus has a sense of humor” this song had the crowd cheering and singing along by the end. The passionate Carter Faith opened the night wonderfully, bringing a level of energy to the crowd for Luke Grimes
Luke Grimes came out on stage met with excited cheers from the audience, with the stage completely dark, Grimes began to play “Innerbloom Intro”. As the song ended, all the lights came up in warm reds and oranges, and Grimes asked how the crowd was doing. He was met with enthusiastic shouts and cheers, just before saying how “the crowd seems so supportive” and he’s so grateful to be able to play for the audience tonight.
Grimes grew up in Ohio, before moving to New York to pursue acting. Through the years he has had many roles on various TV shows and movies, however, the one that most of the crowd at the concert knew of was “Yellowstone”. While a very popular show, he probably drew a few more fans to the Complex since a few seasons of the television show were filmed in Utah. During the concert, Grimes said “How Salt Lake was a second home for a while, I did a lot of work out here. We were in Park City for this little TV show I did for a bit. I really miss this part of the world” meaning when he was out here filming “Yellowstone”.
While performing, Grimes had this warm and inviting energy that he brought to the stage. Even during his “slow and sad” acoustic set, he brough this passion and warm nature to the forefront of his performance. The crowd was swaying along to the music the whole show, and there were even a few couples in the crowd slow dancing to the songs.
The majority of the songs played during the show were from Grimes’ debut album “Luke Grimes” which was released earlier this year. Before the song “Black Powder” Grimes said how this was a good dancing song, and he wasn’t wrong, the whole crowd was dancing and jumping along. In the middle of the song, Grimes also took a minute to introduce the band, even saying “how sorry he was to the ladies in the audience as his bassist was taken, as he recently got married a few weeks ago, how the only thing thicker than his groove was his mustache, in regards to his drummer. Along with how his right-hand man and guitarist has the fastest fingers in the world.” Grimes also said “how much he appreciates the band and how they make him look good every weekend”
Before the end of the night, Grimes said how he had one more song and told the crowd “Thank you for being so supportive and coming out tonight” and how “sometimes I just have to look around and pinch myself because he can’t believe this is happening.” He then left the stage seemingly for the end of the night until the crowd begged him to come out and play one more song. Grimes excitedly ran back onto the stage and stated how the encore is his favorite part of the night because it made everyone turn around and come back to see the final song. That night, his final song ended up being a cover of the Nirvana song “All Apologies” which caused the crowd to go wild.
