Star Fucking Hipsters at The Salt City Cellar

Star Fucking Hipsters at The Salt City Cellar
By

Despite what I’ve read on bathroom walls, I was under the impression that punk was, in fact, quite dead—or at least punk as I was initially introduced to it. In my mind, all the street punx that hadn’t burned out completely had replaced their mohawks with misshapen dreads and converted themselves into freight-riding crustlords. That, or they’d put on Rayban knockoffs and turned into snotty garage rock dudes.  … read more

The Octopus Project with Birthquake

The Octopus Project with Birthquake
By

 Nothing is more refreshing than attending a show where the crowd is totally absorbed in what’s happening on stage. On the final night of February Birthquake and The Octopus Project delivered captivating and joy-inducing performances at The Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City.

 
… read more

Underoath @ In the Venue

Underoath @ In the Venue
By

I’m not the type to attend high school reunions or reminisce about the “good times” passed, but when I saw that two of my favorite bands from back in the day were playing on the same bill, I couldn’t help but don my undersized black band tee and Macbeths for a night of nostalgia. … read more

RJD2 w/ DJ Steez @ Urban Lounge 01.28.11

RJD2 w/ DJ Steez @ Urban Lounge 01.28.11
By

@font-face {
font-family: “Calibri”;
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }p.MsoNoSpacing, li.MsoNoSpacing, div.MsoNoSpacing { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }What happens when a geek-turned-DJ hails our fair city? A sold-out party at Urban Lounge with quite the eclectic crowd and equally electric dance moves. … read more

How the Grouch Stole X-mas @ Urban Lounge 12/07

How the Grouch Stole X-mas @ Urban Lounge 12/07
By

On Dec. 7, Danksquad put it down for a sold out crowd of hip hop heads at Urban Lounge—all eager to see some of hip hop’s living legends and possible future legends. Los Raka’s took the stage first and began their set. These dudes were pretty sick despite a language barrier

  … read more

Napalm Flesh – Live Excursions, Best Of and Damned Good Grind

Napalm Flesh – Live Excursions, Best Of and Damned Good...
By

My review queue has a wealth of quality live DVDs, CDs and “Best of” albums, all of which are reviewed here for your reading pleasure. Live albums, concert/documentary DVDs and best of collections can be fun, but sometimes you get a stinkpot live production or a not so “best of” collection. Here’s my attempt to weed the good from the bad. Also included is a rundown of upcoming shows and some blog exclusive grind CD reviews! … read more

Spoek Mathambo @ W Lounge

Spoek Mathambo @ W Lounge
By

It took a lot to get Mr. Mathambo’s hype-heavy mash up of retro-futurist electronic music filtered through the cultural battlefield of post-apartheid Johannesburg to Salt Lake City. In fact, it took a superfecta of nightlife/fashion promoters to persuade Mathambo and Mshini Wam to make a pit-stop along I-80 to our dusty little spot on the map. … read more

Small Black at Kilby Court 11/12

Small Black at Kilby Court 11/12
By

As a space heater warmed up the Kilby garage, crowd-pleasing local opener The Heavens and the Earth (aka producer Matt McMurray) came onstage behind an impressive array of electronics hooked together with a grippe of colorful cables. As he started playing a whooshing synth pad, I anticipated a set of Tangerine Dream worship. Then he hit the crowd with a beat and got everyone moving. … read more

Napalm Flesh: A Week of Swedish Black Metal-Watain & Marduk

Napalm Flesh: A Week of Swedish Black Metal-Watain & Marduk
By

This week’s blog dissects and gives a rundown of last week’s goings on with the Watain tour and Marduk shows in Salt Lake City, both big shows from gigantic Swedish black metal bands. You should have been in attendance for at least one of the gigs—if not, you missed out on some evil doing black metal. Also is a rundown of this week’s shows, and another batch of blog exclusive CD reviews as well as some choice reviews from fellow SLUG writer Andrew Roy. … read more

The Hold Steady @ In the Venue

The Hold Steady @ In the Venue
By

The Hold Steady had played Salt Lake City on their two previous tours, both times packing the Urban Lounge to near (or even past) capacity.  So much had changed since then.  Would they even try to recapture the old magic, or would this be a completely new direction for this Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minnesota group of musicians? Any lingering concerns were quickly put to rest when guitarist Tad Kubler ripped into the first song. … read more