Gregory Alan Isakov played a sold-out concert at Salt Lake City’s Red Butte Garden last Thursday (9/4/2025), one of the final shows remaining there this year.
As luck would have it, his visit ushered in appropriate weather for a change in seasons (cool, never cold). The moon was appropriately high and full. Thousands of resident crickets chimed in, too. Beauty and relaxation were constants, and the night felt like a finally let-out sigh at the end of a long week. It got the best of Salt Lake magazine’s Executive Editor Jeremy Pugh, who quipped that Isakov “orchestrated songs built to make your tiny Grinch heart swell so much, it might pop.”
The 18-song set probably had most of the songs fans liked, including “Amsterdam,” “Chemicals,” “San Luis,” and (my favorite of his) “Second Chances.” There’s a line from that final song of his encore that always echoes like a long reminder in my mind: “If it weren’t for second chances, we’d all be alone.” So they were often sad songs, yes, but they were lovely and hopeful, too. No matter how many times you witness Isakov do all he does so well (and that includes all his bandmates, each a master of their own realm), it’s hard not to be grateful for all he gives, and for the consistency in quality he’s developed. It’s been a couple of long years since he released his last album (2023’s Appaloosa Bones), but nobody cared.
Instead, we flocked to Isakov like we do crunchy fall leaves, temporary autumnal rainbows of oranges, yellows and reds. We sold out the side of a mountain because we wanted gentle lullabies to cure what ailed all of us, if only for a little while. Mission accomplished.
Photo gallery by Natalie Simpson. Instagram: @beehivephotovideo.
Gregory Alan Isakov performed his Americana lullabies in Salt Lake City last Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, at Red Butte Garden, part of its 2025 Outdoor Concert Series. Photos by Natalie Simpson of Beehive Photography.
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