SLCene Suggests: 5 Tips for Your Week

This week, Utah is brimming with great music, including some Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, some indie-rock darlings, and a piano-pop chanteuse to get things started. Check it out:

NORAH JONES, RED BUTTE GARDEN, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Sold Out

When Norah Jones stopped at Red Butte Garden when she was touring in support of her monster-selling, multiple-Grammy-winning breakthrough album Come Away With Me, it was a big moment for the venue. Jones’ appearance led to tons of new people becoming members of the Garden in order to swoop on some tickets, and probably showed the Powers That Be that current, hot artists would be worth adding to the mix of old favorites that typically make up the Red Butte lineup. I went to that first show, and it was a bit sleepy for my taste–even the AC/DC cover was mellow–but Jones has gone on to make increasingly interesting music, collaborating with the likes of Danger Mouse and Willie Nelson, and doing country covers in a band called The Little Willies. Her latest album, Little Broken Hearts, should get a lot of attention at Tuesday’s show. Cory Chisel and the Wandering Songs open up. The show is sold out, but there will be scalpers outside the amphitheatre.

Norah Jones headlines Tuesday at Red Butte Garden.

MUMFORD & SONS, SALTAIR, Wednesday, 8 p.m., $40

Still a month away from the release of their new album, Babel, English folkies Mumford & Sons come to town for one of the most-anticipated shows of the summer, at perhaps the most unlikely venue imaginable. The band has the sort of rabid fan following that American traditionalists the Avett Brothers enjoy, and they will be packing the Saltair space for sure. It’s been a while since I’ve been tempted by a show at the venerable old warehouse by the lake–it’s one of the least fan-friendly places to see a show in SLC, between the drive to Magna, being forced to pay to park and the horrible sightlines from the upstairs bar, but I heard a rumor this show might be outside on the beach. No word of that on the Saltair Web site, but lets hope it’s true. Nathaniel Rateliff and Slow Club open the all-ages show.

Mumford & Sons headline Wednesday at the Saltair.

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH, RED BUTTE GARDEN, Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Sold Out

Back in the ’80s and ’90s, it seemed like Crosby, Stills & Nash came to Utah every summer, whether at Park West (now the Canyons), the Salt Palace or some other long-gone venue. Red Butte Garden seems like the ideal environment to see the folk-rock heroes do their thing. This will be my first time catching CSN, and I’m hoping the vocal harmonies that made the band’s name are still sounding sweet.

Crosby, Stills & Nash headline Red Butte Garden on Thursday.

BUILT TO SPILL, THE URBAN LOUNGE, Friday, 9 p.m., $20

Boise’s finest come back to town, and I’m cheering the fact that Doug Martsch and Co. are playing The Urban Lounge because it’s been a few years since we’ve had the chance to see Built to Spill in a small club. It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since the band released Perfect From Now On, their major-label debut and a delicious slab of indie-rock focused around Martsch’s guitar wizardry and preference for long songs. The band is recording a new album this fall, to be released in 2013, so this must be a tour to tighten up their collective chops before hitting the studio. Helvetia and Revolt Revolt open the show.

Built to Spill headline Friday at The Urban Lounge.

MANZAREK-ROGERS BAND, EGYPTIAN THEATRE, Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m., $35-$45

You know Ray Manzarek as the keyboard player in The Doors, the man who lent Jim Morrison’s dark lyrical forays their distinct sound (with all due credit to creative guitar player Robbie Krieger, who still plays with Manzarek regularly). For his current tour, Manzarek is bringing along another noteworthy guitarist in Roy Rogers, a slide-guitar killer best known for leading his own band, the Delta Rhythm Kings. Together, the Manzarek-Rogers Band tackle Doors classics, originals and covers. Seeing a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in the cozy confines of Park City’s Egyptian Theatre should be pretty sweet.

The Manzarek-Rogers Band play Park City’s Egyptian Theatre Friday and Saturday.