Frightened Rabbit @ The Urban Lounge

It’s not too often that us Utah folks get a good taste of live Scottish rock. Sure, The Proclaimers reared their ugly heads recently to the delight of many boring 30-something women. But while those dumb whores were cumming in their pants to the Reid brothers walking another 500 miles (worst fucking song ever), those of us in the know were dancing our pants off to not just one, but three bands hailing from the heart of Scotland. … read more

Kylesa @ V2

Even though I’ve had my newfound fondness for metal for about a year, I haven’t been to any metal shows in that time. This show changed all of that. The chance to see Kylesa, one of my favorite newly-discovered metal bands, play at a venue I had never been to a crowd I had no idea how to interact with seemed like a perfectly logical step in my progression into full metal immersion. … read more

Mastodon @ Saltair

After years of derision as the preferred means of entertainment of suburban meatheads and scandinavian church burners, metal has been accepted by the masses. It’s unsurprising that one of the fall’s biggest tours is a metal-based affair, co-headlined by a fictional band with serious chops and one of the most successful metal bands in recent memory. Even though most of the audience was in attendance only for Dethklok, they were gonna get an incredible showcase of heavy music, whether they liked it or not. … read more

Aimee Mann @ The State Room

Aimee Mannʼs music is comforting, melodic, beautiful and despite the unfortunate and incorrect critical tag line of it being “depressing,” (I would have chosen “realistic” if I wrote reviews back in those days) very uplifting. I was extremely excited about seeing her live for the first time, in a new venue (the great new The State Room), and especially in such an intimate setting: The State Room boasts a capacity of 300. … read more

Strike Anywhere @ Club Sound

Bridge Nine Records has done an excellent job of expanding its roster to further reaches of hardcore over the past few years, and even though this tour didn’t necessarily feature the style of music that the label has come to be known for, it was an excellent lineup that reflects the the risks the label has been taking in challenging the traditional hardcore aesthetic. … read more

Ririe-Woodbury Dance: Equilibrium

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company performing live

Salt Lake City’s Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company opened it’s 2009/2010 season with Equilibrium, a collection of pieces which ran at the Jeanne Wagner Theater from September 24th – 26th.   If the rest of the season rises to the caliber of the performances I saw at the Saturday night performance, this will be an exciting season. … read more