Music
Andre Williams with The Goldstars, The Rubes and DJ Dirty...
Seeing an aging musician can be a gamble. I can’t count the number of times I’ve coughed up cash to see some geriatric legend to find myself bored out of my mind watching some drunk, washed-up mess. Luckily Andre Williams is not one of these musicians—he isn’t even close to it. On Monday night the 74-year old Black Godfather took the stage to a severely under packed crowd.
The Black Godfather: Andre Wililams’ First-Ever Utah Show
Andre Williams plays the kind of music that SLUG magazine is proud to get behind. Down and dirty, completely authentic & 100% original, a real soul rebel, his obscurity is almost baffling, and somewhat conflicting reports of his start in the music business only further the stuff of legend–pretty “cult” for a guy who wrote “Shake a Tail Feather” and produced the first version of “Mustang Sally.” … read more
Deadmau5 at Saltair
I am going to start by saying that I (Eric Hess) had never been to a rave in my life and was honestly excited to see what all the gab is about. I have various friends who like techno music and going to raves. I’d hear their stories and wonder if this is true, I mean it’s just techno music (boom, boom, boom, boom, breakdown, boom, boom, boom.) But after being at this show I see now that it is much more than just bass and flashy lights.
Minus the Bear at In the Venue
On July 15 Minus the Bear came to town and rocked the hell out of In the Venue, but that is a statement that could be assumed if you knew the music of the band.
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The Devil Whale @ Subterranean
Sunday night was a lot of things. Ostensibly, it was The Devil Whale’s pre-release show. But Sunday night had layers–layers that cut a broad swathe through the musical landscape of Salt Lake City and spoke to the interconnectivity between bands, fans, and a forward thinking record store at the center of this close-knit community. … read more
Cage at Urban Lounge 06.26
Salt Lake City let the hate out on June 26. A wrecking crew of Timmy Wiggins, Chauncy, Hate Your Guts, and Cage came through the SLC area and got open at Urban Lounge. What started off as a beautiful warm summer’s Saturday night, quickly turned into one dark as hell, hate infested nightcap brought to you by Cardboard City and some pure East Coast hate music. … read more
Sage Francis and B. Dolan at Urban Lounge on 05.26
Urban Lounge can get interesting from time to time. Sage Francis and B. Dolan came through and (I guess) brought some crusty, hippie, anarchist types with em. After having Sage’s new CD on blast for a good two weeks in my car, I was worried I had overkilled it so close to a show. When I arrived there were a decent number of people in line. I was lucky enough to be taken through the Urban Lounge entrance process, and in to the show right in time to see my man B. Dolan. … read more
Mono @ The Urban Lounge
Dressed in all black with nary a discernable expression of emotion on their face, guitarists Takaakira Goto and Yoda took seats on opposite sides of the stage from each other and, without a word, began the tremolo picked upswell from 2009’s Hymn to the Immortal Wind. This reverence and austerity, punctuated with moments of pure cathartic and caustic release, would define not only the hour-and-a-half long performance, but the audience’s awed hush. … read more
Ugly Duckling at Urban Lounge
Hip hop shows, as most people who have attended them in Utah will know, can be a mixed bag. The performance-oriented nature of hip hop creates an incredible burden for those on stage, while the crowd can act however it pleases. Usually, fans are there for the headlining act, and will not have heard of any of the openers. With that quick primer, let’s compare the acts who recently took the stage at the Urban Lounge to show us what hip hop’s all about. … read more
King Khan & The Shrines @ Urban
There are very few live performances that live up to their hype. Weeks before the King Khan show took place there were already whispers that it would sell out. The day of the show there were even rumors that the show would sell out before doors even opened. The general feeling seemed to be that everyone who knew anything about music would be attending King Khan. … read more