Watchhouse • Two Runner • June 20, 2026 • Sandy Amphitheater
Watchhouse came to Sandy Amphitheater on their Rituals Tour, with opening act Two Runner, and brought warm bluegrass songs to the mountains of Utah.
Two Runner
Two Runner opened the show with a kind heart and warm, welcoming atmosphere. Originally started in her small hometown of Nevada City, California, Paige Anderson created what we know now as the artist Two Runner. It was very special during the show in Sandy, it was the first date of the Watchhouse tour that Two Runner was playing as well as that it was the first show ever of Two Runner’s that fiddlist and vocalist Libby Dale joined the performance.
Anderson shared a little bit about their time practicing together this past weekend saying, “This is Libby’s very first show with two runner, were happy to have her here, shes from Nashville, Tennessee, um I was up in livingston montana, for my boyfriends family reunion, very cool, but I told Libby I’m going to fly you into Bozeman, and we’re gonna practice and hang out with the family, and Libby was super down for the family event, but we had rehearsal yesterday, and Libby said this was a very spooky set.”
The crowd found this very sweet and endearing, and Anderson continued by saying, “And this next one is the spookiest one off this new record. I’ll tell you a little backstory on it. I was going through a breakup from a ten year relationship, and took a drive through eastern Arizona, has anyone been to eastern Arizona? There’s nothing there haha. Makes you go a little crazy, and it makes you think about your life, and I was driving along and came upon this little town on the mountain called Witchwell. And I was like, that’s a really interesting name for a town, so I drove over the hill and all that was there was an abandoned liquor store, with a painting of a witch in the window on the side, and I was like, that’s really cool I want to take a picture of that.
And I was like, I’ll take a picture of that when I’m driving back in a couple of days. It’ll be fine. So I came back over the hill a few days later, and I found out they bulldozed the building (crowd said oh no…), and so I sat there for a bit and thought about the breakup that was happening, and so I took a brick and wrote this song. So this next one is called Witchwell.” Witchwell was definitely the spookiest of the night, with a more eerie tone to the song. Despite the mysticism of the song, it still drew the crowd into the story and lyrics.
Both Anderson and Dale mentioned how they were originally from small towns and how that inspires how they make the music that they do. They also shared how if you didn’t get enough of them opening at this show, they’re going back on a headlining tour in the fall and are playing at the State Room in SLC. Two Runner really was the perfect way to open the night.
Watchhouse
Watchhouse’s set started off a little rocky, as they started to play their first song, some technical difficulties began to arise, forcing the band to leave the stage briefly to try to get it working again. Luckily, it was only brief, and the band handled it with such grace, thanking their tech team profusely, and made their opening song that much more sought after by the crowd.
The stage was set with a very bare yet cozy setup, not many extra lights or backdrop, only instruments on a large, patterned rug. Not only did this setup seem very warm and cozy, but it also felt like a more intimate show for the crowd. Watchhouse also created even more moments of closeness with the crowd, switching to a few more acoustic songs, very stripped down, with all of the members of the band huddling around a single mic. It was very reminiscent of a group of friends huddling around a campfire, just singing songs together and sharing their memories.
Watchhouse perfectly incorporated the crowd into their set, having them sing along at one point and leading them into the intro of their song “All Around You”, with Andrew Merlin saying, “Do you wanna try singing with us on this? I have this riff that I like to do but it’s hard at 18% humidity, so if you want to help me out it goes like this…” to which the crowd immediately starts singing along and dancing around to the riff.
After joking about the lack of humidity in Utah, fiddle player Emily Frantz shared that “We’re from North Carolina and not only are we used to a lot more humidity, but we’re also in a historic drought right now, so maybe you guys too, it seems to be the trend.” to which the crowd nodded in agreement, for the lack of water in Utah right now.
Everyone in the crowd was excited to hear their favorite Watchhouse songs live, with people chanting in the crowd for “Wildfire! Wildfire!” to which Andrew Marlin said, “ Don’t worry, it’s on the setlist, we just have a few more in between,” just hyping the crowd up for the song even more. The crowd was very sweet to Watchhouse, with people shouting out how listening to their music was the audience members’ job, because they love the songs so much. It was a sweet “I made it ” moment for the band, who were beyond grateful for all the crowd support.
Just as the sun was finally setting, the Watchhouse set was coming to a close and the crowd was up out of their seats chanting for an encore the the band to come back out, with hits like “Old Ties and Companions” (a personal favorite of mine) and the long awaited “Wildfire” the crowd was up on their feet jamming out to their favorites and deeply connecting songs. At the very end of the night, Watchhouse ended out their show with a standing ovation from the crowd, and a cute bow from all of the band members, adding to the campfire friendship vibes.
