UCR INTERVIEW: Sydney Macfarlane of The National Parks

On March 20th, The National Parks will be performing at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. The National Parks formed in Provo, Utah in 2013. They’ve continued to grow in popularity selling out shows across the country. The Vivint Arena show is significant not only for the Utah-based band headlining their first arena concert but for their fans as well. Hopefully this a sign that things will be getting back to normal in the live music world. As the band prepares for this monster event, I had the opportunity to visit with The National Parks Keyboardist and Vocalist, Sydney Mcfarlane. Enjoy!
-Kevin

Interviewed By Kevin Rolfe

 UCR: First off, thank you so much for taking the time. I imagine you probably have so much prep going on leading up to all this. So thank you very much.

Sydney:  Oh, yeah, no problem.  Yeah, it’s busy, but it’ll be good. We’re excited.

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Miranda Lambert February 25, 2020 Vivint Arena

By: Kevin Rolfe

Photo Credit: Tyler Conrad

We’ve had a few canceled or postponed shows in Utah in the last few months. Some due to weather, and some due to illness. The latter is the case for Country Music superstar, Miranda Lambert. From what I read on social media, Ms. Lambert became under the weather and wasn’t comfortable performing with her voice in the state it was in. It’s disappointing when a show needs to be postponed, but I admire Miranda for wanting to give her fans the best show possible. This performance was well worth the wait.

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Hip Hop Legends: February 29, 2020, Vivint Arena

By: Kaden Severn

Photo Credit: Kaden Severn @simplybrilliantstudios

Saturday was Leap day and many people came together at the Vivint Smart Home Arena to, in a way “Leap” back into the past for U92’s Hip-Hop Legends concert featuring E-40, DJ Quik, Xzibit, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, and Ludacris. While I might be a little too young to know all the songs of those artists. I was familiar with most of them and was excited to see some artists that have been huge in Hip Hop! I was surprised to see how many people showed up for this awesome collaboration of talent. As I looked around the room I noticed that there were people of all ages. The arena filled up quickly.

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Brandi Carlile February 8, 2020, Vivint Arena

By: Kevin Rolfe

Photo Credit: Melissa Majchrzak @melissamajch

Brandi Carlile made her much-anticipated return to Utah Saturday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena, easily the largest venue she’s played in the Beehive State.  Carlile was originally set to play Vivint Arena on December 6 but found it necessary to reschedule due to a bruised vocal chord following a bout with laryngitis.  Rescheduling a show can be difficult. Most of your tour is already laid out, and usually, it’s taking you further and further from the location you’ve had to cancel.  I was happy to get a firm rescheduled date. Sometimes the “We’re working on a new date…” can hang in limbo until we forget about it or the artist is ultimately unable to find a new date on the calendar to play.  But Brandi Carlile made sure she was coming to Utah, and we didn’t have to wait too long. She rescheduled the arena date to February 8, almost two months exactly from when her original show was meant to be. That can also be unusual.  KISS, for example, had to postpone their September 2019 show out at USANA Amphitheater and weren’t able to reschedule the date until this upcoming summer. So, a huge thanks to Brandi for making up her show so soon!  

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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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