“We love moths,” says Montag. “I used to play with them as a kid and viewed them as approachable butterflies … We love the strange and unusual.” … read more
Daughters of Mudson @ the Rose Wagner Studio Theatre
Last Friday, loveDANCEmore curated the second annual Daughters of Mudson, which was housed by the Studio Theatre of the Rose Wagner. As I entered the space, there was energy about the event’s production that I sensed early on—it was practiced, and it has matured into a something that’s becoming integral to the Salt Lake City art scene … read more
Muscle Hawk: One Man’s Thrash is Another Man’s Treasure
The Arts Festival is one of our favorite shows to play. We get to reach every age group and make them all dance together. It’s beautiful to look out at the crowd and see 7 year olds trying out breakdance moves right next to a group of 60+ year olds bustin’ out some old-school jigs. … read more
The Weekenders: A Raw Diet of Rock n’ Roll
I think Salt Lake has a handful of original rock acts and everyone is doing something a little different. I feel there is synergy to the scene and many of the acts complement each other. … read more
Parkour, Action Movies and … David Bowie? Thirty Minutes with the CBR Stunt Team
CBR, whose name comes from the founding members’ names, has a variety of online videos that feature everything from martial arts fights to parkour (also known as free running). They’re martial artists, free runners and friends, but when it comes down to it, they’re stuntmen. … read more
Camera Obscura @ Urban Lounge 06.26 with Marissa Nadler
Camera Obscura began with “Do It Again” and “Break It To You Gently,” two new pop tunes that prove that they’ve still got a vitality to their songbook, a feeling that evolved with confidence as they delivered half of their newest album. … read more
Miss May I, Killswitch Engage, Darkest Hour, The Word Alive, Affiance
I love shows at Saltair. Even the drive, which would normally be an inconvenience, can be a wonderful relaxation if you take the right route. So it was Friday evening as my friends and I piled into a few cars and chased the sun out to the Great Salt Lake, ready to have our earholes sweetly penetrated by Killswitch Engage and their tour brethren Miss May I, Darkest Hour, The Word Alive and Affiance. My last show out here was the Coheed and Cambria tour, and memories of that show and its massive swarm of humanity were still fresh. The night was warm, the lake wasn’t stinking too much, and in between sets, you could enjoy a beer on the back porch and watch the sun set. Only a heartless fool wouldn’t have enjoyed himself here. … read more
Battle of the Bands @ Velour 06.15
I arrived at Velour about 30 minutes before show time on Saturday night. A week earlier, the venue’s Number Two, the lovely Kaneischa Johnson, had asked me to help out with judging the competition. Kaneischa briefed us, the esteemed judges, on the judging criteria and what she expected from us. I looked at the paper with the criteria that she had given us all, appended to a clipboard: Musicianship, Songwriting, Crowd Response, Stage Presence and Vocal Performance, all out of 10. … read more
The Mighty Sequoia
Friday night’s show at Velour would be The Mighty Sequoyah’s last … well, at least for a few years. The five piece band, made up of Darger, Hannah Currie (Viola/Vocals), Alex Woods (Guitar/Keys), Bret Meisenbach (Drums) and Mike Dixon (Bass/Pedal Steel Guitar) opened up with “Medicine Man” from their Sunken Houses album, a track that quickly shows what TMS is all about: thoughtful indie folk rock, beautiful song building and breathtaking harmonies. In fact, those harmonies between Currie and Darger are beyond breathtaking—they have a rare chemistry onstage that only comes from two talented people believing in their music so much that the sounds coming from them almost become a tangible object. … read more
Cayucas with JBM @Kilby Court 06.21
It’s a desirable thing to go to a show with no worries. Why did I have no worries for this show? Cayucas just barely released an eight-track LP that’s drenched with summer vibes via catchy bass riffs and laid-back tales about beach life. All I knew about the opener, JBM, was that he was a multi-instrumentalist out of Montreal who makes folk music. This was destined to be an easy night, and the music I heard was authentic enough to take me where the artists were mentally when they wrote the music. Those places were anywhere but the city. … read more
Video Nasty Movie Review
Video Nasty is a refreshing take on skateboarding. It showed that it does not have to be all about handrails and hucking your carcass down a set of stairs. … read more
Electric Daisy Carnival: The Best Kind of Zombie Nation
On June 21 to 25, I headed to Las Vegas for one of the biggest parties/festivals of the year, Insomniac’s 17th Electric Daisy Carnival! Once again, for three days straight, some of the best DJs in the world would all be in one place for another sold-out crowd at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the biggest all-night party, literally. From 7 p.m. to sunrise, there would be nonstop music. Las Vegas is already known as the city to party in, but during EDC weekend, something magical happens: It’s party level of 10 doubles and by two and multiplies to infinity. … read more
