Sunday, June 8
Who: Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen
Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre
When: 7:30 p.m.
What: Any chance you’ve seen 2009’s Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges (aka everybody’s favorite)? It was my gateway drug to Ryan Bigham’s genius. He wrote the movie’s theme (“The Weary Kind”), and that song alone has all the power in the world to get stuck in your head for days (weeks?) in a row. It led to album buying and Bingham liking/loving. As for The Texas Gentlemen, that’s another story entirely, and they’re worth their own time in the spotlight. Consider this night a twofer, folks. Extra bangs for all of your precious bucks.
Tuesday and Wednesday, June 10-11
Who: They Might Be Giants
Where: The Depot
When: 8 p.m.
What: If you snagged a ticket to either of their two Salt Lake City shows, count those lucky stars 1-2-3, my friends. It’ll be a hot time in ye olde time machine. From the band’s site: “We are doing favorites and new stuff, along with very different old stuff. With 85+ songs now in active repertoire, the shows change radically from night to night, and there is a different album in the spotlight every night. This tour is a full-on celebration of all things They Might Be Giants. 8-piece band. 3 horns. 2 sets. It’s ‘An Evening with’ so it starts early, with no opener. Doors at 7, we are on stage at 8.”
Tickets: SOLD OUT!!
Thursday, June 12
Who: Bloc Party
Where: Union Event Center
When: 6:30 p.m.
What: What goes around, comes around, and when it comes to solid muzak, that’s a welcome thing, maybe the most welcome. It wasn’t many years ago that Bloc Party was playing small but powerful shows at In The Venue downtown. The fact they’ve graduated to a much larger space to match their enormous sound is cause for celebration, not to mention getting the chance to revisit some of their greatest hits (and songs like “Helicopter,” “Banquet,” and “This Modern Love” are so worth the revisit).
Sunday, June 22
Who: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Where: Capitol Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m.
What: One of the greatest parts about seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings perform is how little they tend to focus on the unnecessary. There is no light show. There (usually) isn’t a warm-up band. Whether you’ve seen the duo live or watched any footage surrounding their current tour, it’s all about their harmonies. Those are what’s on display. The duo is so good together that it’s hard to tell where one voice starts and the other stops. It makes for a magnificent sound, one of the best in the music world. If you pick just one show to head to this month, I gently urge you in this direction. Fingers crossed that Gillian does a little clogging, too.
Monday, June 23
Who: Weird Al Yankovic
Where: The Maverik Center
When: 7:30 p.m.
What: He’s retired from making albums (or so he says), but Weird Al is still bringing all his weirdness out on tour, where it belongs. This night promises to be Bigger and Weirder than anything he’s done previously. Reminds me of a time I pressed a friend of mine who lives in Vegas, asking who was the best act he’d ever seen on the Strip (and he’d seen plenty). Without hesitating, he shared that Weird Al was his number one. It’s a lot of parodies, sure, but it’s also frequent costume changes, dancing, production, etc. The songs are goofy, but that spectacle’s extra shiny. His Utah date has been mostly sold out for a minute, but it’ll be worth it if you can land a seat at this one. Especially if he dons his “Fat” suit.
Thursday, June 26
Who: James McMurtry
Where: Commonwealth Room
When: 8 p.m.
What: McMurtry is one of the more familiar faces in these parts, and we welcome him any time he cares to pass/amble through. He’s a storyteller on all levels, one of the most verbose singer-songwriters still creating tales worth telling. It’s a feat in itself that he can remember so many verses and lyrics. McMurtry shares his writing secret: “You follow the words where they lead. If you can get a character, maybe you can get a story. If you can set it to a verse-chorus structure, maybe you can get a song. A song can come from anywhere, but the main inspiration is fear. Specifically, fear of irrelevance. If you don’t have songs, you don’t have a record. If you don’t have a record, you don’t have a tour. You gotta keep putting out work.”
Saturday, June 28
Who: Modest Mouse
Where: Ogden Amphitheater
When: 7 p.m.
What: Part of the Ogden Twilight series, this is one of the more sold-out shows on this list (it seems to be trending, that), and for a few very good reasons. Modest Mouse is still one of the hardest-working bands there is; they’re playing more than half the dates in the month of June alone. Also, they remain one of the best bands to see live. Period. Isaac Brock doesn’t know how to give less than 1500 percent, and that has a glorious ripple effect on his audiences. Did I snag a ticket before they all went away? No, I did not. And I’ll have to think long and hard about the errors in my ways.
For bonus points, pay these shows visits too: The Detroit Cobras (6/11, Urban Lounge), Trevor Hall w/ Fruit Bats (6/13, Granary Live), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (Capitol Theatre, 6/14), Waylon Jennings Tribute Show (6/15, State Room), Drive-By Truckers w/ Deer Tick (6/17, Red Butte), Polyrhythmics (6/28, Commonwealth)
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