Review: The Lower Lights at Kingsbury

The Lower Lights perform Dec. 11, 13 and 14, 2024 at Kingsbury Hall. Photo by Natalie Simpson – Beehive Photo

What needs saying first: when you witness the Lower Lights, you experience more than a band. The group opened their three-night stand on Dec. 11, 2024, at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus. There are two more shows on Dec. 13 and 14.

Sure, these 16-17 rotating musicians have shared their lauded Christmas shows with this valley and its growing fan base for at least 15 years, and that’s plenty of time to experiment, sand rough edges, and make the good better. But understand these are also friends who’ve written music before (and during) that period. They’ve played on one another’s albums, dreamed up their own, and had tours with their names in real or proverbial lights.

However, when they join arms as this entity, the results are wholly different. Maybe that’s a given. They create moments of magic they’d not be able to make on their own, at least not entirely.

Sharing nearly two-and-a-half hours with the Lower Lights means tapping into one of the greatest collections of Christmas and gospel music that’s likely ever been pieced together. And it’s hardly a rehash of tired carols. Nothing pedestrian is allowed in this space.

Instead, you hear what friendship and deep care and empathy sound like when swirled together. A version of “Silver Bells” may not come out exactly as planned, and those who feel their way through it will tell jokes about what did and didn’t happen, but it’s hard to mind that much as a member of the audience. Perfection wasn’t promised, and it was hardly sought. In its place, you receive warmth. The roaring campfire you didn’t know you needed showed up at the right time.

And when that happens, you’re allowed to shake your head in disbelief and maybe chuckle at how great these Lights are when the spotlight is shown on all instead of one.

The Lower Lights isn’t a “nice to have” for Salt Lake City. It feels necessary. When Dominic Moore and Paul Jacobson duet on Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” for example, it helps soften a divisive feeling still lingering on an election year. Also needed: Kiki Jane Sieger’s soulful turn on “Pretty Paper,” a sultry take on “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” and banjos and mandolins and three-part harmonies sweet enough to scare out surprise tears.

This feels like a spoiler alert, but it’s not. All of this happened, and those who gathered were grateful. Once invited by Sarah Sample to dance along, we stood and participated immediately. We danced along in balconies and aisles (with and without kids in arms), and even in place when that notion struck. The thing was, it struck often. With a massive stage as filled as it was with talent, we wanted to join. We wanted to react. Joy begets joy, after all.
The great part about reading these strung-together thoughts (and hopefully on Thursday, when they’re still fresh out of the gate), is that the Lower Lights are set to join forces twice more, on Friday and Saturday. This puts me in a precarious and incredible position. Should these words have any sway, please know buying any available ticket to either show will be a heralded decision on your part, an early Dec. 25 gift you get to give yourself.