Music
Tribal Seeds @ The Depot 01.24 with Wakane, Mystic Roots,...
The smoky haze was just starting to thicken as Mystic Roots walked onstage to open the show with a reggae-style cover of Lorde’s “Royals.” … read more
The Zero Summers @ Burt’s 01.10 with The Paper Guns,...
The stand out of the night was Gerade (pronounced guh-RAH-duh). They are a rock band from Spanish Fork and this was their Salt Lake City debut. These three boys rocked the house and brought the night to an energetic and powerful finish. The vocalist had an amazing range, the bass was loud and sexy, and the drums nailed it all together. … read more
Pepper @ Lo-Fi Cafe 01.22 with Lionize
As the members of Pepper walk on stage, there is a roar coming from the crowd before the band can even touch their instruments. With little introduction, they go right into the newer song “Freeze.” Older songs like “Boot” and “Stone Love” make me feel more at home. … read more
Pepper @ Lo-Fi Cafe 01.22 with Lionize
The legendary Pepper makes their triumphant return to Utah performing live with opening act Lionize at the infamous and revamped Lo-Fi Cafe. … read more
The North Valley @ Kilby Court 01.10 with Golden Sun,...
It’s hard to think of a local band with more potential for longevity than The North Valley. Their first full-length, the release of which was marked by tonight’s show, sparked a fire in my heart that I still haven’t put out, content to live with a charred, murmuring and hollow organ if it means I can spend one more goddamn moment here, letting my ears bleed, and my eyes roll back in my head, and the vibrations break my ribs in a million little pieces. … read more
Be Like Max @ Kilby Court 01.11 with Super Hero,...
Be Like Max set the energy levels to an all time high when they came on. Kicking off their set with the brand new “Bring on the Suits,” the crowd erupted into the biggest circle pit of the night and I found myself face to face with lead singer Charley Fine screaming into the mic “Hey! Bring on the suits!” Between all of the foul language, dirty humor, onstage insults and demands for circle pits, Fine started to debate about doing a stage dive during “Hand Me a Beer.” … read more
Sharon Needles: Nightmare Before Xmas @ Metro Bar 12.14 with...
Out of the crop of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants that Metro Bar has hosted in this post-Pride season—including Manila Luzon, Honey Mahogany and JuJuBee— Sharon Needles is most certainly the Baddest. … read more
Winter Battle of the Bands @ Velour Live Music Gallery...
“It’s over,” I’m furiously scribbling down high marks on the scoring sheet provided by Velour, speaking to no one in particular. “It’s fucking over!” The sold out crowd has become unhinged, saying, “One More Song! One More Song!” The electricity is palpable. After the fourth band of five, Velour’s semi-annual competition is over. I just feel bad for whoever has to go after this … I’m getting ahead of myself. The Battle started at 8:15 p.m. … … read more
Pere Ubu House Concert 12.10
Have you ever dreamt that you were at a party in some unfamiliar house, and one of those cool, obscure bands that you admire was playing there? I found myself saying that to a friend one evening recently—one of the strangest, most singular evenings I’ve had in a long time with Pere Ubu! … read more
Emilie Autumn @ The Complex 12.05
Emilie Autumn typically has no opening act or live band, therefore her show is mainly focused on an overarching storyline of her time being locked within the walls of an asylum. She utilizes heavy satire and Victorian flair while confronting the issues of sanity and sexism within the world today. She has built an entire world that encompasses a novel, several album releases, and a soon-to-be major theatrical production. If you are expecting to see a traditional concert, you will more than likely question what it is you are experiencing; this is much more of an interactive performance piece. … read more
Negative Approach @ Club Manhattan 11.21 with The Casualties, M.D.C....
John Brannon’s lip is bleeding, Harold Richardson is wailing away that wiry solo on “Lead Song.” Some idiot is screaming out for a Suicidal Tendencies (what?) cover. These songs are quick, borderline psychotic snaps of furor. Perfectly crafted by some mystic core entity into some divinely inspired audiovisual ratio of power and speed. No frills, no whistles. The calcified gristle of rock n’ roll’s fattened carcass, the parts that stay behind when the glistening flesh has long rotted away. … read more
Dawes @ Eccles Center 11.30
Opening with “Most People” from their 2013 album Stories Don’t End, lead singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith flawlessly captured every member of the audience both young and old with an epic yet interesting guitar solo, which set the tone for the rest of the show. … read more
