When Wilco put on its festival Sky Blue Sky in Mexico earlier this month, plenty paid attention, selling it out months in advance. From January 15-19, fans braved airports, rode shuttles and acquired weird tanlines all in the name of a very good time.
Since Kilby Block Party is a few months away, and many musicians who performed at Sky Blue Sky have also graced Utah’s festival stage (and plenty of others around Salt Lake) in years past—including Dinosaur Jr., Waxahatchee, Yo La Tengo, and MJ Lenderman & The Wind—I thought I’d offer some observations and takeaways for the curious. Some of them could improve the festival experience here, and others may not. But, if KBP organizers are reading this, they’re totally up for grabs—please copy them.
Things Kilby Block Party Should Consider
1. Neil Young is (still) most everyone’s co-pilot. While covers ran rampant in Mexico, Neil reigned supreme. And a long, drawn-out take on “Cortez The Killer” makes for a happy crowd.
2. Balcony hammocks are beautiful. There’s time for rushing the stage and for standing right near the sound stage. Switching out both to lounge in a provided hammock while still being within earshot of “Jesus, Etc.” … that kinda trumps both.
3. Not overlapping sets! Want to see Snocaps at midnight or Valerie June while in the ocean atop some floaties and dodging dive-bombing seagulls? Totally doable. It’s how they planned things. Smart.
4. Favorite band t-shirt day seemed a borderline silly idea at first, but some real gems got unearthed. My own J.J. Cale tank top made no new friends (womp womp), but my friend’s shirt? The one with the Steely Dan lyric on the back? It got all the compliments.
5. We like the wildlife. Birds that made mornings sound like waking up in the jungle. Pelicans the size of small airplanes. Monkeys. Personally, though, I was all about the fat sunbathing iguanas. I’ve got about 37 videos on my phone to prove it.
6. Everybody loves Dr. Dog. I won’t go picking favorites, but I kinda lost count of how many times I heard and saw others scream “THEY’RE SO GOOD!” into whatever ears were nearby throughout Dr. Dog’s set. They need to fully come out of whatever quasi-retirement they’re pretending to take. The world awaits that good news.
7. Jeff and Spencer Tweedy tie for festival MVPs. Whether playing with Wilco almost nightly or sitting in with Case Oats or Golden Smog, that father-son duo were the hardest working men in show business. Wholly deserving of all of the awards.
8. Always have hot dogs nearby. No time to RSVP to a restaurant? No problem. Grabbing a warm hot dog or taquito was always easy and encouraged (aaand included).
9. Please add Dinosaur Jr. to every festival everywhere. Por favor y gracias.
10. Everyone stayed out of everyone else’s way. The crowd trended older, which meant more seasoned music lovers. Best examples anyone could ask for.
Kilby Block Party is happening May 15-17, 2026. Get your tickets here.
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