Despite the fact that SDCC can be messy and often extremely frustrating, I still love it. At the end of that long weekend in July, it’s comforting to see so many people coming out to celebrate the enduring work of so many talented artists. Now that it’s officially behind us, all of us local nerds are counting the days until SLCC is upon us so we can meet up and swap our own convention center war stories—and maybe pick up some cool swag along the way. … read more
Over the weekend, audiences and jury members screened a wide variety of films from all over the world. As this year’s Fear No Film theme was all about exploring and redefining our own boundaries, each film presented a unique perspective on that concept. … read more
Partners Matt Aller, Chris Barlow and Erik Ostling, who have worked in Salt Lake’s design, advertising and photography industries, officially started producing at Beehive Distilling in January of this year and their visual skills show on both the bottle’s great label design and their promotional materials. The precious liquid inside the bottle, though, outshines its appearances—Jack Rabbit Gin is some fine-tasting liquor. … read more
At the end of the night, every band—whether strictly psych or loosely psych-related—gave killer performances that words couldn’t do more justice explaining than eyes and ears. But those who missed tonight had a chance of redemption at catching the second half of Psych Lake City tomorrow. And for those of us who did go tonight, we have every reason to be fucking stoked. … read more
Blazing a checkered trail through North America, the Ska Revival Tour is about to land on the salty shores of Salt Lake City on August 6th. While ska music has not died out, this revival tour seeks to shine a spot light on an otherwise overlooked and perhaps under appreciated genre. … read more
The lineup and show from the previous night was pretty solid, and I was all too eager to see how tonight was going to play off in contrast. And the fact that Spell Talk’s name was on the marquee stood out in my mind as a proverbial safety net if, for whatever reasons, the other bands didn’t deliver. Of course—again—this didn’t turn out to be the case. … read more
Every neighborhood has that one kid. The young kid who, upon getting his first bike, decides to lean a piece of wood against a cinder block, pedal at it as fast as he can, and see what happens. … read more
The sun was setting and I had a perfect view of the mountains surrounding Red Butte Garden—is this real life? … read more
Everybody loves to eat. Unfortunately not everyone gets to. A whopping 22.2% of households in Salt Lake City face food hardship, meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Taste of the Wasatch is changing that sad fact. This popular fundraiser brings together some of Utah’s best restaurants, breweries and people. Every last cent of the proceeds support hard working organizations that insure everyone has access to food. … read more
Starting out with the soundtracks to Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, it’s extremely clear that both Zach Cowie and Wood are quite familiar with and embracing of Wood’s nerd credibility. Have I mentioned that they also closed their set with a disco version of the Return of the Jedi Ewok dance? Spoiler Alert: That totally happened. … read more
I’ll get to get to the point right away for my review of the 2014 Warped Tour so you get the idea of what you will be reading. If it wasn’t for my 15-year-old daughter and her extreme desire to see the tour and a fair amount of the bands playing, I wouldn’t have even bothered going. Suffice it to say, during battles of the day muddling through the heat, crowds and noise, I found some great times at the show and most of those great times were equally shared between myself and the kiddo. … read more
As an attendee of several locally organized film festivals, FilmQuest’s focus on films from the horror, fantasy and science fiction genres made it unique. It’s fun to sit in a darkened theatre with no idea what type of film might illuminate the darkened screen and take you along for a ride. Not all of the films were stellar, and many were downright bizarre, but here are a few that stuck out to me. … read more
