Twilight Concert Series 2018: Diplo 08.16 with DJ Dizz, Z&Z

There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding this year’s Twilight Concert Series. After the announcement in February that the Arts Council had
partnered with Broadway Media and Salt Lake Community College to put on the events and not much was revealed about series as a whole until June—less than two months before the premiere event. Personally speaking, this was enough to temper expectations, but the major success of past years’ events provoked a healthy amount of optimism for most others. The lineup, released on June 21, was as diverse as it was star-studded. Festival favorites Moon Taxi adorn the list, alongside Robert Delong and stand-out performer Snoop Dogg. Opening night responsibilities, however, belonged to Diplo.

Sold-out posters hung on every panel of fence that separated Gallivan Plaza from the hustle and bustle of Main Street on Aug. 16. Upwards of seven-thousand people turned out for the first night of the series and were treated to ideal weather, plentiful libations, and a lineup dense with high energy DJs, graced with (arguably) electronic music’s most prolific name, all performing under open air. The main stage was rarely vacant for the four-plus hours that the gates were open, but music flooded the space from all directions with local DJs performing to queues of people waiting for food and speakers blasting ambient noise to concertgoers waiting for drinks or playing giant beer pong. When Diplo took the stage around 9 pm, the nooks and crannies of Gallivan emptied out and the crowd spilled over the lawn onto the terraces and up to the back wall, with nearly everyone dancing or raising their hands or singing loudly from their friends’ shoulders.

Diplo’s performance truly was a treat to the senses, and it overflowed from Gallivan Plaza’s border both sonically (you could literally feel the bass
from outside the gates) and energetically. After the show, fans poured into the city, sweaty and tired and in high spirits.