Despite a venue mix-up on my part, I still managed to arrive at Bar Deluxe about 45 minutes before the opening band went on. Bar Deluxe’s tattered and torn aesthetic seemed to match perfectly with opening band Breakers’ distorted surf-punk sound. Mastering a sound check would be in their best interest, as it proved difficult to translate most of their songs, except when they were screaming—literally screaming. … read more
Rodriguez @ The Depot 05.20
Being able to finish a film with an iPhone app was the MacGyver move that Malik Bendjelloul had to pull in order to finish his Oscar-winning project. Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary film about Sixto Rodriguez. The Detroit-born psychedelic folk singer has enjoyed a recent revival in popularity thanks to the film. While some believe that the documentary film does not tell the whole truth, I believe Searching for Sugar Man was a great showcase for his music, which is what ultimately brought me to The Depot on a Tuesday night. … read more
Kishi Bashi @ Urban Lounge 05.23
When I arrived at Urban Lounge at 8:30 Friday night, thinking the show would start at 9—there was still a line outside and another show going on inside! This meant that the show started at the old 10pm time, which kinda sucked, but it’s got to be a good thing if we’re getting so many bands wanting to play in Salt Lake that Urban has to double-book, right?
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In Rolling Waves: The Naked and Famous Get Barreled Around the World
If there’s one way to start off the summer, it’s The Naked and Famous Concert. These guys are awesome. The Naked and Famous consist of Thom Powers, Alisa Xayalith, Aaron Short, David Beadle, and Jesse Wood. Together, they’ve formed one badass alternative rock band. Their songs have been featured in everything from Gossip Girl, to FIFA 2012 and 2014, to The Art of Flight. … read more
Haim @ The Depot 05.22 with Tennis
The Haim sisters take their usual layout—Danielle in the center, Alana to the audience’s left and Este to their right—which I imagine they’ve been holding down since their childhood days, back when they played with their mom and dad as Rockinhaim. … read more
One Sorted Affair: An Intimate Evening with David J
A sleepy suburb in Utah County, somewhere south of Provo, is not where one would expect to encounter one of the great gothfathers. And yet there we were on a strangely muggy Friday evening—40 or 50 folks folks, mostly middle-aged and bearing the unmistakable marks left by a youth spent (but not misspent) pursuing music on the left of the dial, along with a few kids wearing t-shirts for reunion tours of bands that formed when I was their age, sitting ringed on the tasteful beige carpet around David J Haskins. … read more
CHiT CHAT WiFF RiFF RAFF
SLUG: If you were playing basketball with President Obama and you had the opportunity to dunk on him, would you hesitate to do it out of respect for the office?
RiFF RAFF: I would super dunk 370
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Who is the Penguin Lady? Interview with Natosha Washington
Ten years later the Penguin Lady is working in an entirely different vein. I am sitting on the edge of a black box theater inside Judge Memorial Catholic High School. Natosha Washington is next to me casually watching her troupe rehearsing a series of dances they’ll perform at the Rose Wagner this September. … read more
Feast @ Now Dance Co. 05.24
O, Utah! Should I stay or should I go? That’s the question at the heart of Feast, last weekend’s evening-length performance from choreographer Charlotte Boye-Christensen’s NOW-ID. … read more
SLUG Style: Max Pain and the Groovies
Whether they’re out at Denver’s Psych Fest collecting weird shit like “trollops” (ask one of the band members about it) or decorating one of their jackets with pins and buttons found laying around the tour bus, the boys always feel at home in SLC, saying they prefer it to any other scene they’ve played in because of it’s low-ego, no bullshit feel when it comes to personal style. … read more
tUnE-yArDs @ Urban Lounge 05.27 with Sylvan Esso
Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs can do it all. She loops vocal harmonies and noises on the spot, drums and plays an electric ukulele. The latter instrument is unique, but it’s nothing compared to her strongest instrument—her voice. … read more
Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival 2014
Punk Rock Bowling invites the positivity of the punk community, allowing everyone and anyone to see bands that they can knock off their bucket list. This festival invites a vast and diverse array of people influenced by this subculture. One can see skinheads, rockers, crust punks and of course the spiky hair punk rockers that make up the popular novelty postcards. … read more
