Music

Peace, love, and dreadlocks — and Utah’s all in. Michael Franti & Spearhead will play to a sold-out crowd Tuesday night at Red Butte Gardens. The show is part of Franti’s American/European “SoulRocker” tour. Franti, with his signature dreadlocks, tattoos, and bare feet, uses his music as a form of activism for peace and social justice. Franti merges rap, hip-hop, reggae and jazz to make a positive statement with his music. His multi-platinum single “Say Hey (I Love You)” embodies his easy-going, catchy musical style — you know you had that track on a mix CD in 2008. Franti has performed with his band Spearhead since 1994. He made a film in 2000 titled I Know I’m Not Alone, where he journeyed to the Middle East to see how war affects the area’s inhabitants.

“I make music for one reason; I care about people and I care about the planet we live in. Right now the world needs music that speaks out against hate and violence, that speaks up in support of the planet, in support of justice for all of humanity — and also makes you dance!” – Michael Franti

The show is sold out. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30 with special guest Dustin Thomas.

I’ve seen Los Lobos play a few times, each time as an opener—once for Steve Earle at Red Butte, once for Alejandro Escovedo at Deer Valley. And it always seemed to me that their role as an opening act was grossly unfair, both because the dues they’ve paid as musicians and because they’re just really, really good—but unfortunately, neither of those things guarantee commercial success and that’s what gets you a headlining tour at Red Butte or Deer Valley.

This week the boys are back in town to open for yet another band—Tedeschi Trucks, tonight at Red Butte—but in a a stroke of luck (and good booking) almost too good to be true, they played an intimate two-set gig at Salt Lake’s The State Room on Saturday night.

The band took the stage all wearing all black—some of them wearing sunglasses that stayed on through the whole set. “We’d like to thank the Red Iguana for the food,” said lead singer David Hidalgo to cheers from the crowd, who obviously love mole, before the band settled into the first set. Within a few bars of “Short Side of Nothing” I was surrounded by at least three men in Los Lobos tee shirts and twice as many dancing women. At one point, there was a couple salsa dancing—you won’t see that at The State Room every night.

The beautiful mystery of Los Lobos is that they are equally as good singing songs in Spanish as they are covering Buddy Holly. They effortlessly blend genres from Mexican norteño, to heavy blues, to soul to covers—something I gladly attribute to the variety of sounds coming from the stage. Steve Berlin’s sax really makes a difference in the overall feel of each song it’s featured— maracas and an accordion and more were played when the song called for it. And, during the set break, a flute player arrived at the venue in a Lyft. It was Kofi Burbridge, of Tedeschi Trucks, and the addition of his instrument added layers to the sound during the second half of the show. Rock and roll flute. Who knew? (Note: Jethro Tull is not an acceptable answer.)

And they just played. And it occurred to me, as I listened to their single-song encore of “Cinnamon Girl,” that it had been a long time since I’d seen a show at which the music hit me right in the chest and caught my breath, the way that music is supposed to be felt. The way all of us who see live music want to feel at every show. It was a joyous, communal and face-melting show. And they sure played like headliners.

Tedeschi Trucks Band bring their eagerly anticipated Wheels of Soul tour to Red Butte amphitheater this Sunday Evening, in support of their recent Let Me Get By album release.

Led by Derek Trucks, ranked number 16 of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine, and powerhouse vocalist Susan Tedeschi, the twelve-piece

group enlists two drummers, three vocalists, a three-piece horn section, bass, and a multi-instrumentalist keyboard player for what is a greater-than- the-sum- of-its-parts collective.

Touring with Tesdeschi Trucks Band are the North Mississippi Allstars and Los Lobos, billed as “rock ‘n soul” collaborators. Expect three sets from three outstanding bands, with collaboration between the three bands through the evening.

Sunday evening is the last stop on the current tour that has received outstanding reviews and promises to be an excellent evening of fantastic music. And with three high-quality bands sharing the stage over the course of the evening, it offers tremendous value for money.

Doors at 5.30pm, the sold out show begins at 6.30pm.

I go to a lot of concerts at Red Butte Garden—as the music editor at this publication, it’s a job requirement. So, I have seen Red Butte crowds at lots of different shows, and though each of them vary in their nuance, most of them look mostly alike. Most shows are full of what I like to call “wine-and-cheesers.” This was not the case on Friday night for Weird Al’s sold-out show.

Admittedly, I am, at best, a casual Weird Al listener. I was a child in the 80s, so I’ve seen his videos and I know his songs from that era. But, to be honest, I don’t listen to a lot of pop music, so I don’t even know the songs he’s parodying anymore. But, I do have a preteen son, and every so often he often stumbles across Weird Al videos on the internet and shares them with me.

I guess what I’m saying is, I have a limited knowledge of Weird Al’s catalog. I was at a distinct disadvantage from the beginning.

And when I walked into Red Butte Garden and saw a bunch of grown men and women (and their children) wearing tin foil hats and maroon berets I knew that I was suddenly a stranger in a strange land—even on what I consider to be my own home turf.

And so, with no opener, the band came onstage at 7:46 and the large video screen that was soon to become a key component of the concert showed the man himself strolling through Red Butte Garden wearing an outfit of many colors, holding a wireless microphone and singing “Tacky.”

There was little banter. There was not enough accordion. There were a lot of wardrobe changes—facilitated by clips shown on the large screen behind him to engage the crowd while the entire band changed before nearly every song. They wore Devo-like yellow jumpsuits and red hats for “Dare to be Stupid,” Al wore sweats and rode a Segway scooter for “White and Nerdy” (during which Donny Osmond danced on the big screen behind him), and he donned a fat suit (really?! We’re still fat shaming in 2016, I guess) for, of course, “Fat.” And on, and on, and on, and on.

In my research before this show I found that the setlist is the same in every town, and in the same order. The costumes are the same. The jokes are all the same. So, I knew exactly what I’d get at this show (and I don’t see much reason to regurgitate what many reviewers before me have already said).

But, I think that his fans knew what they were getting, too. They were on their feet the whole time. The people behind me knew all the words to all of the clips on the screen—all Weird Al related in one way or another, of course—and all the words to all the songs.

And that’s the thing: In addition to being the same guy night after night on this tour, he’s the same Al he was in 1986. He’s got boundless energy and enthusiasm. He’s still so uncool that he’s magically cool. And he’s still the funniest guy in the room. I guess.

But here’s the thing I didn’t expect: Al’s band is good. He’s been touring with the same group for a long time, and while he sometimes has the benefit of tools to distort or change his voice for the style of music he’s parodying, his band doesn’t have that option. These guys are just solid, well-rounded musicians. And in no moment of the show was the musicianship more evident than an acoustic medley of Al songs, in the spirit of Clapton’s “Layla.”

And the stage production’s attention to detail is astounding. The costuming is well done. It is a finely-tuned machine. No wonder it’s the same in every city. Why mess with perfection?

After Al gave himself a stage exit, borrowing heavily from James Brown (cape and all), he did come back on stage, with his band and more—presumably roadies—all dressed as Star Wars Characters to sing “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda.” It was a fitting send off, for everyone involved. The crowd loved it. And I, probably the only person on Earth who has never seen a Star Wars film, didn’t get it. Just like I didn’t really get the rest of the show. But, Al isn’t doing his shows for me and I get that. I respect that. It’s just a club I don’t belong to.

I guess that makes me a wine-and-cheeser.

If all you know about Los Lobos is their cover of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba,” we need to talk.

In 1973 David Hidalgo and Louie Perez met in high school in and bonded over their love of Randy Newman and Ry Cooder—in East L.A. They started recording music, they recruited some friends, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The band blends together rock, tex-mex, blues, soul, country—you name it. They call themselves a Mexican-American band, but but they are so much more than that and their music seems to reflect the American ideal melting pot.

And yes, the band’s biggest success came from their work on the La Bamba soundtrack, but their catalog spans nearly 40 years and is masterful.

Los Lobos is in town to support Tedeschi Trucks at Red Butte on Sunday, but they’re playing a double set at The State Room on Saturday Night for 300 lucky folks. Tickets are still available and while you might balk at the heftier-than-usual price, you should know that this night is going to be one that you won’t soon forget—and they’re playing two sets! It’s a bargain!

It all started with “My Bologna.” And after that, a career that spans four decades, winning the hearts of every adolescent boy in the process.

Indeed, Weird Al Yankovic’s career has been built on the back of juvenile humor, but that doesn’t exactly do the record-producing, film-producing, screenwriting, songwriter and musician justice. Not only has Weird Al been doing this for 40 years, but he’s managed to get the permission of every artist he’s parodied—some of whom even help with with recreating the more unique sounds found in their songs. And he plays a mean squeeze box. I admit it, I’m in it for the polka.

Weird Al’s shows have a stage production quality unlike anything you’ve seen at Red Butte before. There’s wardrobe changes, video screens and, as the name of the tour indicates clearly, Mandatory Fun.

The thing that may be most amazing about his continued success as a touring artist is that in this age of YouTube stars and reality tv, Weird Al isn’t even weird anymore, and he’s certainly not the only one making fun of popular music. But, he’s been doing it longer and he’s done it the best.

Weird Al Yankovic plays Red Butte Garden on Friday, August 5^th. The show is sold-out. Doors are at 6:30, the show starts at 7:30.

I’m hoping for a Donny Osmond guest appearance during White and Nerdy. Cross your fingers.

It seems that concerts are always a “hit or miss” type of deal for me. No matter how much I love the band, it seems their concerts are either bursting with energy, filled with their best songs or they fall flat with little connection and subpar performance levels. Luckily, Florida Georgia Line was the former.

Their Friday night performance at USANA was seen by an overflowing crowd, all of whom seemed to be having a great time (including the woman in front of us who seemed to have just a bit too much fun during the opening acts and drunkenly slept through all of Florida Georgia Line’s performance. Don’t you just love country concerts?)

Kane Brown, The Cadillac Three and Cole Swindell all performed shorter set lists but with three opening acts it seemed to take an obnoxious amount of time to get to the night’s main event. However, all was forgiven once Florida Georgia Line took the stage and started playing all of my favorites.

With an almost perfect blend, Florida Georgia Line scattered the show with old, familiar songs and some of their newer ones, off their upcoming album, Dig Your Roots, which is set to release in August.

Overall, the concert was filled with bounds of energy from both the band and the screaming crowd, making it a fun night for all.

Sunday saw the return to Salt Lake of blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. in a show that had the Red Butte crowd on their feet from the moment he took the stage

Salt Lake based classic-rock aficionados The Weekenders had kicked things off earlier in the evening with a solid 35-minute set that was well received by the sold out crowd. 

Clark strolled on at 8:10 p.m., looking seriously cool. And as he began proceedings with a blistering version of “Bright Lights” it was clear he meant business. The exciting opener was followed by some impressive finger styling on “Next Door Neighbor Blues,” some rather lovely falsetto vocals on “Our Lady,” and an enjoyable mid tempo minor blues “When My Train Pulls In.” 

Midway through the show, a brief unplanned interlude occurred when Clark’s amplifier “blew up.” The Fender Vibro King amp in question was acquired from Who guitarist Pete Townshend during a European tour. It’s testament to how hard Gary plays that he managed to blow up an amp that once belonged to the loudest man in the history of rock.

The attention to detail with his choice of onstage equipment really helps Clark achieve a gorgeous tone from his rig. Using beautiful guitars such as modern custom shop reissues of 1963 Fender Strat, 1961 Gibson SG, and an Epiphone Casino, Gary is able play his own brand of blues that tips its hat to legends that include BB King, T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker, JJ Cale, and Frank Zappa.

But there’s more to Gary Clark Jr than shredding on the guitar and melting down amps. His soft ballads that were carefully positioned throughout the set were reminiscent of Dylan and Neil Young, particularly on the encore number “Church.” Like any good show, his setlist was a roller coaster and took the audience on a musical journey of highs and lows, fast and slow—but always nicely balanced.

At a June Red Butte concert, Buddy Guy spoke his concerns that blues music is dying out. Alongside Joe Bonnamassa and Derek Trucks (who plays Red Butte amphitheater with Susan Tedeschi, Aug. 7), Gary Clark Jr. is one of the most talented blues guitarists under the age of 40 playing today. If Sunday evening was anything to go by, Buddy can rest assured that the blues is alive and well and in very talented hands. At least one more generation will get to enjoy the blues.

“Whiplash.”

That’s how John Paul White described what the audience would get from his The State Room show Sunday night as he went from mellow acoustic to raucously loud in one song. But actually the whiplash started when the opener took the stage.

Magpie was already onstage when I arrived at the venue. One part Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, one part Lumineers, Magpie is something harder to explain than it is to watch. It was undeniable that they were having a great time onstage—the fiddler barely had a bow string left at the end of the show, the drummer twirled his drumsticks like a high school band majorette and banged on his kit like Animal from The Muppets, and the lead singer and guitarist’s instrument was held together by duct tape. But, their enthusiasm for what they were doing on the stage was infectious. They had the small crowd engaged throughout their set—some in appreciation, some in wonderment and for some, like me, a little of both.

And so, it was a shock to the system when John Paul White, whose gig posters say “John Paul White, formerly of The Civil Wars,” took the stage solo and belted out an a cappella “I Remember You” dressed in a suit and tie. He played alone, with just an acoustic guitar for a couple songs before being joined onstage by a small band—a keyboardist, a drummer and a bassist.

“Thanks for coming out on a Sunday,” he told the crowd in a charming southern drawl,“Are y’all in trouble?” It was a seemingly clear jab at Utah’s Mormon culture, but maybe not. After all, White hails from the bible belt and there’s plenty of folks there who take the Lord’s day just as seriously as practicing Mormons.

White played mostly new stuff, from a yet-to-be-released album dropping later this month. “It’s going to be a lot to digest,” he told the crowd as he chugged along. And while all of his songs are sad, lyrically, it was hard to tell when the band joined him, resulting in a loudness that was both unexpected and bordered on unpleasant when following the more mellow stuff on the setlist. The highlight of the set was a cover of Dan Seals’ “Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)” during which only White and his keyboardist, who took a turn on seemingly silent xylophone, were on the stage.

In the end, White brings the strength of a wordy songwriter, much like his fellow Alabaman and musical contemporary Jason Isbell, but he has a little growing to do into his new role as a solo act. The unassuming southern gentleman act is charming, but needs a little something. And maybe it was just because I’m so used to The Civil Wars beautiful harmonies, but I wish he’d brought someone, anyone—even a back-up singer—to provide a little more vocal depth to the show. And maybe he could have a little more fun onstage, even with the serious songs. Magpie could probably help with that.

Photos by Natalie Haws

Call it the summer of the 80s in SLC.

Salt Lake audiences, by the end of the summer, will have seen shows by The Cure, Howard Jones and OMD, Blondie, Culture Club, Tears For Fears, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Def Leopard, REO Speedwagon, and Heart—and more. And last night, at The Complex, The Church and Psychedelic Furs joined the party, to much less fanfare than the others.

The bands, admittedly, don’t have much more in common than the decade they rose to prominence, but that didn’t stop the crowd—a mix of middle aged folks attempting to recapture their youth and young goths who were born a few decades too late—from showing up in surprisingly large numbers to see them. Creating a crowded, hot and miserable experience on the floor of the larger of the two rooms at The Complex, which is hands-down the worst indoor venue in Salt Lake.

The floors are flat, the room is narrow and the security, which always seems like overkill, took away the pens I had in my purse—along with what was clearly a reporters notebook, despite my protests and all in the name of safety. God knows what a pudgy 36-year old mother of two and music writer could do with a Sharpie if left to her own devices. In any case, if you find this review light on detail, blame security, not me.

The Church opened the set with a fairly short playlist of nine songs, a surprising move since they, unlike the Furs, have released some new music since the Reagan administration. Lead singer Steve Kilbey set the mood for the rest of the band by standing still practically the entire set with a seemingly clear disregard for the audience, who, unlike me, seemed to know the words to plenty of songs that were not “Under The Milky Way,” the bands biggest hit and one hell of a song.

What the Psychedelic Furs lack in catalog they made up for in stage presence. Lead singer Richard Butler’s gravelly voice may have lost some of its power, but the integrity was still there as he bounced around the stage, playing off other band members—the best of which may have been sax player Mars Williams, whose cool-guy sunglasses and sax solos really made the entire show an homage to the 80s that couldn’t have been more obvious if they’d brought out Tom Cruise in his tighty-whiteys and a Save Ferris tee-shirt holding a Care Bear. (Note to band: Hey, guys, that might be a million dollar idea—please credit me if that comes together.)

The highlight of the evening, definitely came at the end of the show, when the Furs were joined on stage for “Pretty In Pink,” during the encore by Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers, a modern band for whom the Furs influence is obvious. And maybe that’s what makes all of these 80s bands still relevant, if it’s true that there’s nothing new under the sun and we’re just making the same music over and over again, last night proved that we could be doing much worse than pulling from these two bands for inspiration.

But last night also served as a reminder that it’s been a while since The Killers have played here. What’s up with that, Ronnie?