Skip to content

SLCene Suggests: 5 Tips for Your Week

by on June 20, 2012

We’re looking at a music treasure trove over the next week in Utah, thanks to a series of stellar headlining shows by legendary performers, and the Utah Arts Festival’s full slate of worthy tunes to go along with all manner of visual-arts stimuli at Library Square. Wilco has FINALLY sold out by the time you see this, so unless you have tickets to the Monday show at Red Butte Garden already, it’s time to hit the Internet or make alternate plans for what I expect to be one of the best shows of the summer, if not the entire year. Plenty of other options are out there, though, so take a look:

I could list a whole bunch of the rock ‘n’ roll classics that John Fogerty is responsible for as one way to convince you to check out his show Thursday at Deer Valley; songs like “Green River,” “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son” and “Proud Mary” are some of the best in American pop history, from one of our most distinct voices. I could talk about the man who refused to back down from shady label honchos who literally wouldn’t let Fogerty perform his own songs for years, and accused him of plagiarizing HIMSELF when he put out “The Old Man Down the Road” as a solo artist. But instead, I’ll tell you what made me a Fogerty fan–he’s the guy who inspired Mike Watt of the Minutemen to want to be a rock musician, and the guy who make Watt love “flyin’ the flannel” well before grunge came along. Fogerty is releasing an album this fall full of collaborations with the likes of My Morning Jacket and Foo Fighters, but in the meantime, you can hear him kill it live and in person. If you saw his last appearance at Deer Valley, you know you won’t be disappointed.

John Fogerty headlines at Deer Valley Thursday, June 21.

Always a highlight of the summer in Salt Lake City, the Utah Arts Festival gets going Thursday for four days of live music, visual arts booths, film and, over by the Leo, even a little science. There are so many bands worth seeing, I’m not going to list them, but I can suggest you go to the Utah Arts Festival Website and check out the complete list of performing musicians. On my radar? Locals The Devil Whale, The Lower Lights, Laserfang, No Nation Orchestra and many more. And of the national headliners, I’m particularly stoked on the Sunday night closing slot occupied by Blue Highway, a traditional bluegrass band with serious chops. They play at 9:45 on the Festival Stage, but seriously, go look at the full schedule and make yourself some notes.

Blue Highway plays Sunday, June 24, at the Utah Arts Festival.

When the Garage on Beck caught fire a couple weekends back, not only did it deprive fans of live music and tasty grub of one of their favorite spots until it reopens; it left the bar’s crack staff without any income until the place comes back to life. Hence, this benefit, which is geared toward raising at least $3,000 to help the staff make it until they’re back on the clock on Beck. The bands playing make it pretty easy to want to make a donation; The Trappers, The Folka Dots, Spell Talk, Triggers & Slips and Candy’s River House are all on the bill.

The Trappers are one of the bands playing the Benefit for the Garage Staff on Saturday at The State Room.

Jimmy Cliff just might be the most popular reggae artist besides Bob Marley. He’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with 40 years in the business under his belt, and he’s still going strong. And he’s responsible for a large number of Americans discovering reggae music at all, via his classic Jamaican gangster epic film The Harder They Come, and its amazing soundtrack headlined by Cliff. If you’ve never seen him, you’ll not only dig the show–you’ll be surprised how many of Cliff’s songs that you know.

Jimmy Cliff headlines at Red Butte Garden on Tuesday, June 26.

My childhood introduction to Glen Campbell came via his hit song “Rhinestone Cowboy,” a song I later heard Soul Asylum totally kill at a show at the Bar & Grill (current home of the Woodshed). But I digress–Campbell is a masterful guitar player who was an in-demand session man for the likes of the Beach Boys before launching his own successful career through tunes like “Wichita Lineman” and “Southern Nights.” A couple years back, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, so he went into the studio to cut one last album and then support it with one last tour. “The Goodbye Tour” stops in Sandy on Tuesday, two nights after Campbell headlines the Hollywood Bowl. You’ll hear the classics, plus cuts from that farewell album, Ghost on the Canvas, which includes contributions by the likes of The Replacements’ Paul Westerberg, Guided by Voices’ Robert Pollard, Brian Setzer, Chris Isaak and Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan.

Glen Campbell headlines at Sandy City Amphitheater on Tuesday, June 16, on his Goodbye Tour.

From → SLCene Suggests

Comments are closed.

«
»
%d bloggers like this: