Music

With the warmth of the day slipping away with the setting of the sun, Red Butte was packed with an unusually young crowd sporting backward baseball caps, beardless faces and the faint odor of unwashed undergrads. Red Butte’s Executive Director Gregory Lee offered his last sponsor rundown in advance of Tash Sultana’s and the Teskey Brothers performance  and thanked us all for attending the season’s final show, as is tradition.

The Teskey Brothers took stage and immediately started grooving on a shuffle tune called “Man of the Universe.” Drums, bass, two hollow-body guitars, a trumpet and a trombone accompanied lead singer Josh Teskey’s savory vocals. Sam Teskey, one of the band’s guitarists, showed off his chops with a few screaming solos that woke the crowd up a bit. The band laid into slow, sultry songs one after another, each with a different bluesy flavor.The Teskey Brothers sounded great and the crowd concurred. Spectators crowded the barrier in front of the stage, swaying and jumping with the songs. Josh Teskey dominated the set with his soulful singing, but I thought the heavy, instrumental brass sections with furious guitar riffing were actually The Teskey Brothers’ strongest moments. The band finished with a slow ballad called “Hold Me,” and Josh got the crowd clapping, singing and swaying along for the closing bars of the set.

The event’s main event, Tash Sultana,is a solo performer who packed the stage with a collection of musical doodads.  Synths, guitar pedals, a trumpet, a drum machine and a healthy selection of percussion instruments filled two tables which had been brought out. For décor, neon lights, a massive stack of stage lights, and a collection of five extra tall digital screens blazed to life. With a guitar lick already reverberating in the air, Tash jumped onto the stage from the darkness and started working magic. Tash was at one moment, kneeling  and fiddling with guitar pedals—at the next, running across the front of the stage while shredding a fearsome guitar solo. All the while, the digital screens blasted our eyes with trippy patterns and hi-res musically responsive LED creations.

Weed is always in the air at outdoor concerts, but I’ve never smelled as much at Red Butte as at this show Tash Sultana’s concert. Plumes of smoke rivaled the fog machines for output during the first half of the concert. Tash offered helpful suggestions to encourage the toking crowd:  “If you’re going to smoke a joint, smoke it now,” before breaking into the emotional waves of “Can’t Buy Happiness.” Tash, continued to turn up the heat with stoner-friendly visuals and long spiraling musical solos constructed especially for vision-questing minds.

Tash put on an audio/visual experience live I’ve never experienced before, this was easily the best production of the season. Huge wandering patterns and colors cascaded across the LED array as Tash ran every which way across the stage, soloing on guitar, horn, and percussion alike. The set ended with an explosive cover of “The Jungle” which featured a five-minute guitar interlude before climaxing in furious shredding. The incessant cheering of the crowd was enough to convince Tash to play an encore, and with a couple heartfelt acoustic songs, Tash sent us all home with smiles on our faces and knowledge of a Red Butte Season done well.

See all of our music coverage here.

Mid-morning at the Rabbit Hole might as well be midnight: The gas lamps flicker, barely lighting the dim corners. It seems an apt atmosphere for Utah jazzman Alan Michael, who cradles his gleaming saxophone as he talks about the jazz that is his life.

Of course, he’s from New York City. But he moved from that jazz habitat to Utah in the mid-nineties at the urging of his wife, Shannon. “She wanted out of the city and loves the mountains,” he says.

He loves them too, so he exchanged the jazz scene for the natural scenery. But, “I still get back there,” he says. In fact, he recently returned from the city where he went to have the mouthpiece of his sax reshaped.

He has a whole other life and a different name in New York. There, he uses his real name, Alan Michael Braufman. “Here, I was always calling up and talking to a receptionist who couldn’t understand “Braufman.’ So I dropped that and changed it to Alan Michael a year ago.” He also plays a different kind of music in New York—still jazz, but more experimental, edgier. It’s the kind of music he made his name with, ever since playing with the Psychedelic Furs, among other bands.

SAX FACTS:

“More and more sax collectors means that many instruments end up in collections instead of being played,” says Michael, who would prefer we not touch his instrument. The heavy intricate brass work is coated by the maker with a lacquer to protect the shine. Mess with that and you devalue the horn. Oddly, sax parts are made in Paris, but assembled in Elkhart, Indiana.

That sound doesn’t play well with audiences here, but he loves the music he does play with his quartet, Friday and Saturday nights at the Bayou and as often as possible at the Rabbit Hole, a space downstairs from Lake Effect where Kelly Samonds books jazz. “It’s a listening room, not a loud jazz room,” says Michael. “I’ve learned not to mind talking; if the music is good enough, they’ll be quiet and listen, unless they’re drunk. Kelly won’t allow a synthesizer here. He’s a purist, so there’s no amplification. Michael also plays at the Garage, Jazz Vespers at First Unitarian Church and Jazz at the Gallivan but Rabbit Hole is one of the only places in Salt Lake City where he plays his own music.

Indian Navigation Company put out an album in 1975 , Valley of Search, that focused on Michael’s avant garde jazz. Out of print now, copies sell on eBay for $150. There are plans to reissue the album, but, remember, jazz (like most music) is always best live. 

Clearly the rain clouds the sky were unsuccessful in their attempts to dissuade concert-goers from the highly anticipated Modest Mouse concert at Red Butte last Friday. The venue was packed! While the opener, NOMADR, seemed to struggle a little, Modest Mouse had not trouble scaring off the chill of the night, getting the crowd up and dancing. Despite cold weather, a slow start, Modest Mouse’s explosive appearance at Red Butte is something I think all of us who were there will remember with warmth in our hearts.

The final Red Butte Show of the season will be Tash Sultana on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019.

Read our preview here.

NOMADR, a band I don’t think most of us knew, opened up the night with hip hop beats, light rapping, and more than a few curse words. The band’s style was just a bit too relaxed for the crowd’s taste, I honestly thought it was still the house music playing until I looked up and saw them on the stage. I’m pretty sure the conversations going on throughout the venue were about as loud as the music. NOMADR gave it a solid effort, cheering themselves on, and calling out “Salt Lake City” in just about every song. Unfortunately, the crowd remained unimpressed. The band’s final two songs both descended into discordant chaos, and I was left with a bitter taste as I sat watching Modest Mouse’s crew set up.

The Mouse emerged in a purple haze of stage fog and dank smoke clouds from the crowd (Mark your Concert Bingo). The band opened with a heavy, loud rendition of “Poison the Well.” With two percussionists, a drummer, two guitarists, a bassist, and two keyboardists who occasionally swapped to horns and violin, Modest Mouse was equipped to party. And party they did.

Between songs, as lead singer Isaac Brock shared some drunken ramblings while the crowd was busy getting lit. Smoke plumes could be spotted all across the venue, and quickly dwindling racks of beer were next to just about every group. When the band played “Dashboard,” everything came together in explosive style, and everyone in the crowd started grooving.

The night did not go off without a few hitches, however. As the show went on, Isaac Brock seemed to get progressively more loaded, at some point sharing a 5-minute tirade which I honestly could hardly understand over the slur in his words. At another time, the sound guys must have screwed up, because the whole band’s sound cut out for a few seconds and we were all left watching the band rock out without making any noise.

Things got a little folksy when Modest Mouse pulled out the banjos, but for the most part the band stuck to heavy, drugged up renditions of their hits, like “Ocean Breaths Salty” and “Dramamine.” As a Modest Mouse fan, this was exactly what I’d come for. The simple, but heavy and well-coordinated riffs and the superfluous vocals which bounce all over the place sounded just like the band’s recordings. With a few extra solos thrown in, and a bit more percussion in the mix, Modest Mouse put on a show I won’t soon forget.

About an hour into their set, Modest Mouse mysteriously evacuated the stage without a word. After a surprisingly long break, the band came back and played a handful more songs. During their last few songs, Brock was having a hard time keeping up, even calling out, “I have no idea where in the song we are,” just before that song ended. Oddly enough, Brock’s intoxication did not make the band’s music any worse, and the crowd was eating it all up with cheers the whole time.

Music wise, Modest Mouse played very well. Overall, their show was a bit of a train wreck, but it was entertaining and interesting to watch. Isaac Brock’s belligerent intoxication led to some awkward, as well as some hilarious exchanges, but overall didn’t hamper the ban the house music signaled the end of the show. With the cold of the night seeping into our bones, I think most of us were glad the night ended without an encore.

See all of our music coverage here.

What: Tash Sultana with The Teskey Brothers
When: Monday, Sept. 23, 2019
Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
Tickets and info HERE.

Get ready for some loops like you’ve never heard before, Tash Sultana is coming to Red Butte on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. A singer, multi-instrumentalist, and solo performer, Sultana arrived on the scene with a collection of charming music videos, featuring intricate live builds of multilayered guitar loops and melodies. I expect to see a wide selection of instruments and guitar pedals forming Sultana’s musical playground.  Sultana will be joined by The Teskey Brothers who bring the Black Keys’ bluesy formula to the next level with horns and bouncy piano riffs.

I’m eager to finally see this show. I’ve watched many of Sultana’s videos in the past, and was blown away every time. Tash has incredible flow—reflected in their first and only full-length album Flow State. I’ll be interested to see if Sultana brings anyone else onto the stage to accompany the music, considering the collaborations on recent singles with the likes of Milky Chance and Matt Corby. It’s going to be a hell of a show over at Red Butte on Monday, the last of the season. Bundle up (the Modest Mouse Show on Friday was chilly) and be there to experience Tash’s smooth and evolving compositions, as well as The Teskey Brothers’ twangy, bluesy tunes.

See all of our music coverage here.

Bring on your grievous angels. On this date in 1973 one of the gods of of music died. So, go down this rabbit hole and read about the place where his loyal friends cremated him.

Gram Parsons invented country rock, introduced rock to the gorgeous suits made by Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors (Porter Wagoner already knew about them) and though most of the love came posthumously, was and is one of the most beloved of rock musicians. He is forever linked to Joshua Tree, California which he loved and where he mysteriously died. The current issue of Salt Lake magazine features an article about Joshua Tree National, recently upgraded to a National Park, with nods to Gram Parsons.

Read all of our music coverage here.

I was a bit surprised as I walked in to Red Butte last Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019. For a show that supposedly hadn’t sold out, Boz Scaggs appeared have to packed the house just about to bursting. Once I sat down and took a closer look though, I realized what actually had happened. Apparently, Boz Scaggs fans are also Red Butte veterans. Every group had their picnic setup maximized. Lawn chairs, coolers, and sun protection framed picnic blanket after picnic blanket. It wasn’t that Red Butte was full, rather, it was that everybody at Red Butte was professional-level serious about the picnic parts of Red Butte, spreading their gear far and wide across the grass. The crowd (largely white haired, and long in the tooth) busily chatted as the sun dove towards the horizon.

Jeff Blanc emerged from backstage alone, acoustic guitar strapped over his shoulder, and marched up to the microphone with purpose. Despite his vigor, few in the crowd seemed to pay him much attention. He started strumming bright, open chords, and pouring his soul into the microphone. LeBlanc’s music is exactly what you’d expect from a singer/songwriter. He sings ballads and love songs, thick with vocal “Oooohs” and simple chord progressions. But the Chardonay and hummus continued to hold-sway, most of the crowd spent the majority of his set clinking glasses and chatting as the sun went down. Then, out of nowhere, Jeff played a cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.” At that point, cheers went up, dancers stood up, and LeBlanc dazzled the distracted crowd of of its reverie. With some light comedy between the rest of his songs, Jeff finally roped the crowd’s attention in for the end of his brief, 25-minute set.

As the stage was set for The Boz, clearly, this was the moment everyone was waiting for. As soon as the house music died down the crowd was on their feet cheering. Boz Scaggs and his entourage strutted onto the stage like a pack of wolves. Within moments, Boz was singing “What Can I Say,” catcalls erupted from the crowd, and our journey through the Boz Scaggs discography commenced. 

The mood was electric as two guitarists (including Boz), a drummer, a bassist, a percussionist, a keyboardist, and a saxophonist started jamming on classics like “JoJo” and “Sierra”. Before the show I was honestly a bit skeptical that Boz would have any voice left to sing with after his 50-plus years of gigging. As soon as the band started, though, it was clear he still had his A-game. His trademark nasal voice sounded as good as ever as he moaned over the lyrics to “It’s Over.” While the thick vocal choruses all sounded just like the Boz I know and love, the band kept things fresh with saxophone and guitar solos thrown into every song.

From the moment he started, the crowd was in awe and Scaggs delivered exactly what they wanted. Scaggs and his band still knows how to dial in a killer show, playing through about half the songs from his seminal album, Silk Degrees and giving us all an update on his style with tracks from his newest record, Out of the Blues. Boz ended the night with a double encore, which had the whole crowd on their feet. Before they could be convinced to triple down by the incessant cheering, the band jogged off stage, and sent us all home humming lines from “Lowdown” and “Georgia.”

Also the picnicking was excellent.

See all of our music coverage here.

What: Boz Scaggs with Jeff LeBlanc
When: Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019
Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
How: Tickets and info here

Boz Scaggs. You read that right; the very same Boz Scaggs who released the seminal funk/rock album Silk Degrees way back in ’76 is coming to Red Butte Amphitheater on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019. Scaggs’ music picks up right where The Beatles set down, combining groovy beats, a goofy voice, and thick orchestrations to create hit after hit. The Boz will be joined by Jeff LeBlanc, an up-and-coming singer with a neo-soul sound, so make sure you’re there to catch a taste of old -guy stuff the new kid’s music alike.

I’m particularly excited to see how refined Scaggs has his act. He’s been gigging since the mid-’60s, so he has certainly had some time to practice. Scaggs’ 19^th studio album, Out of the Blues, dropped last year, so I expect to hear some material from that. Though whether it’s “What Can I Say”, or any of Scaggs’ literally hundreds of other songs, we’ve all probably heard and/or jammed out to something Boz Scaggs wrote at some point. I’ll see you at Red Butte on Sunday for a walk down memory lane with The Boz.

See all of our music coverage here.

Red Butte was at maximum capacity on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, because every direction I looked families, students, hipsters and “Wine:30” types filled my vision. For once, the concert actually started exactly on time, with Los Coast warming their hands (and the crowd) up with a guitar driven instrumental. Los Coast’s singer, Trey Privott, has a voice which sounds almost exactly like Charles Bradley, and when the band broke into a heavy rendition of their most popular song, “Monsters,” I heard cheers and a handful of catcalls from the crowd as Privott smoothly belted out the lyrics.

Los Coast at Red Butte Garden September 2019. Photo by Amanda Jones/Salt Lake magazine.

By the time Los Coast played their grooviest song, “(Everything But) The Kitchen Sink,” they had clearly dialed in their sound—people throughout the crowd started getting onto their feet to dance. At some point, someone started blowing bubbles, and the cocktail of psychedelic scenery and phaser heavy grooves had me on my feet too. Unfortunately, at about that same moment, Los Coast announced that they were done. Their short, 30-minute set left me desperately wanting more music from Los Coast.

Clark stood atop a small riser on the stage, silhouetted by intense stage lights to looking like a movie star cowboy. Photo by Amanda Jones/Salt Lake magazine.

Keeping with the prompt and organized theme of the night, Gary Clark Jr. was out on stage after one of the shortest gear switches I’ve ever seen Red Butte pull off. Clark stood atop a small riser on the stage, silhouetted by intense stage lights to looking like a movie star cowboy. The band kicked the set off with a sassy version of “Bright Lights,” while behind them an awesome array of hypnotizing lights ushered the crowd forward on a cosmic journey through guitar riffs and head-pounding choruses.

As I listened to Gary Clark Jr. I couldn’t help but think of The Black Keys. The twangy guitar sounds, the deep, heavy singing, the thick organ pads. It all sounded so similar. But the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach only wishes he had the guitar chops that Gary Clark Jr. has. I was blown away by guitar solo after guitar solo as Clark played. Clark’s incredible falsetto, and his band’s ability to create a roller coaster of energy for each song were the icing on top, as the band played “Feed the Babies” and brought the energy up about as high as it could go. By the time the sun had fully set, the crowd was on their feet swaying with the music.

Deas showed off his skills with a couple funky solos which had the crowd jumping with the pulse. Photo by Amanda Jones/Salt Lake Magazine

Sometime the second half of the set, Gary Clark Jr. let us all know it was keyboardist Jon Deas birthday, and then the band jumped right into a sassy, synth heavy version of “You Saved Me.” Deas showed off his skills with a couple funky solos which had the crowd jumping with the pulse. During the rest of the set, Gary Clark Jr. used a much more narrative melodic style akin to the style of Tauk with furious solos thrown into every song.

Photo by Amanda Jones/Salt Lake magazine.

There’s no doubt about it, Gary Clark Jr. and Los Coast blew the roof off the place (well … at least they could have if Red Butte had a roof). Gary Clark Jr. closed off the night with a clean, upbeat encore, which even after three solid hours of music still filled me with energy. The band ended the night with a surprisingly heavy cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together”, and the explosive finale had everyone dancing and singing along. After such a killer show, there’s no doubt I’ll be first in line next time Gary Clark Jr. or Los Coast are in town.

See previews of the last of the Red Butte 2019 season here.

See all of our music coverage here.

Red Butte Summer Concert Series is almost over for the year with just a few more shows. Let’s see if the folks at Red Butte can push those rocking arms up into the sky and give us one more day of summer. Here’s what’s left:

Mark Knofler will play Red Butte Sept. 11, 2019. Photo provided by Red Butte Gardens

Boz Skaggs will play Red Butte on Sept. 15, 2019. Photo provided by Red Butte Gardens

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit will play Red Butte on Sept. 19, 2019 Photo provided by Red Butte Garden.

Friday, September 20 Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse will play Red Butte Sept. 20, 2019. Photo provided by Red Butte Garden

Tash Sultana will play at Red Butte on Sept. 23. Photo provided by Red Butte Garden

See all of our music coverage here.

It’s not often I get to go to a show with only one band on the ticket, so I was particularly excited to discover exactly one band, Gov’t Mule (AKA Mule), on my Red Butte Concert ticket last Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. These guys play classic rock right down the line with greats like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles (not so much Gerry Rafferty), but they have enough of a jam band groove to attract old Heads and old rockers. In front of a massive, groovy tapestry, and some spinning, psychedelic, purple lights, the band was greeted with a cheering roar as they blared the opening riffs of a thundering three-hour set. Cheers from an intensely tie-dyed crowd were turned up to 11 as Warren Haynes broke out his first of what would be many shredding guitar solos. And thus, we began our expedition through the deep track repertoire of Gov’t Mule.

Haynes is most certainly a monster on guitar (his solos were being eaten up by the crowd as fast as he could cook them up). Photo by Amanda Jones/Salt Lake magazine

Guitar gets top billing in Gov’t Mule’s sound. The sound guys took this to heart, because I could hardly hear anything but guitar and the faintest hint of bass drum for the entirety of the first song. Haynes is most certainly a monster on guitar (his solos were being eaten up by the crowd as fast as he could cook them up), but it was a bummer to watch the drummer, bassist, and keyboardist giving it all they’ve got with no sound to show for it. Thankfully, the sound crew realized this, and by the middle of “Lola Leave Your Light On,” the keyboards and bass finally found their way into the mix, and I could comfortably savor the drum fills.

Gov’t Mule let their music speak for itself, with hardly a word between any of their three hours of songs. The show was a machine gun of classic rock, well, rocking. Guitar solo after guitar solo, riff after riff—the crowd, who was clearly not too old to rock ‘n’ roll, dutifully had their faces melted. Gov’t Mule even played a half-time cover of “She Said She Said,” as well as an instrumental, and definitely psychedelic cover of “Norwegian Wood” to stoke the fire. After the sun went down, things got way tripper, with drugged-up sound effects on the guitar and bass, longer and more jam-driven songs, and massive light and fog effects. Even so, crowd was surprisingly sober, with only a faint whiff of cannabis and barely two handfuls of glow sticks catapulting through the air. (The Umphrey’s McGee show last month was a different story.)

After the sun went down, things got way tripper, with drugged-up sound effects on the guitar and bass, longer and more jam-driven songs, and massive light and fog effects. Photo by Amanda Jones/Salt Lake magazine

With multicolored fog seeping into every nook and cranny, Gov’t Mule played arguably their most popular song, “Thorazine Shuffle.” At last the rest of band stole the spotlight from Haynes and took solos of their own. With the crowd still going wild in a “it’s a school-night way,” Gov’t Mule closed the evening off with a speedy, solo heavy rendition of “Soulshine.” In all, Gov’t Mule proved that they can still rock the hell out of the night and sent us all home humming bass lines and guitar solos.

See all of our music coverage here.