NEON TREES, THE COMPLEX, Monday, June 16, 7 p.m., Sold out
Neon Trees are Utah’s most successful rock ‘n’ roll export in years, commercially speaking. And that popularity is earned, creatively speaking, through their dynamic sound that ranges from bombastic, aggressive garage-rock to slick, ‘80s-evoking synth-pop. Fans have watched Neon Trees evolve from local fixtures into national headliners across the release of three albums, the latest of which, Pop Psychology, is their most consistently winning collection yet. It zipped to No. 6 its first week on the Billboard 200 sales chart when it arrived in April, the band’s highest debut to date. Now Neon Trees are in the midst of a tour taking them coast to coast and across the globe, and the excellent live band is taking full advantage of their headliner status, with an ornate and colorful stage show that suits the band just fine. Smallpools and Nightmare and the Cat open the show.
JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD, KILBY COURT, Friday, June 13, 7:30 p.m., $12
When Jessica Lea Mayfield first entered my consciousness, she did so on the strength of her excellent 2011 album called Tell Me, a moody collection of dark country ballads and some twang-filled stompers produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. After what seemed like ages between albums, the young singer/songwriter is back with a new set, Make My Head Sing, that amps up the guitar and the energy considerably, to great effect. The songs are still haunting, but this time they’re definitely more in your face, thanks to power-chord riffage seeping into the songs throughout. She co-produced it herself, alongside collaborator, bassist and husband Jesse Newport, so those sounds making her head sing are clearly what she wanted. And, just as clearly, Mayfield remains an artist to watch as she develops further. Israel Nash and Charles Ellsworth are also on the bill.
JUANA GHANI, BAR DELUXE, Friday, June 13, 9 p.m., $7
Like many a great live act before them, local Gypsy-rock crew Juana Ghani faces the challenge of making their recorded music live up to the undeniable energy and appeal of their performances. That’s no easy task no matter the genre, but it strikes me as particularly difficult for a band that manages to blend a lot of traditional instrumentation into vital, modern sound. Juana Ghani, though, has the songwriting chops to make their recordings as noteworthy as their concerts, and they are set to release their second full-length, She Lost Her Head, this weekend. Produced by members Brian and Leisl Bonell, with assists from local studio gurus Brad McCarley and Mike Sasich, the new release features 12 new recordings sure to please fans of the band’s intricate gigs. Bar Deluxe offers a pretty ideal place to celebrate Juana Ghani’s latest, and the show will include belly dancers, fan dancers, aerial artists, pole artists and like-minded musicians Hectic Hobo on the bill. Looking for something you don’t expect to find in the Salt Lake City music scene? Juana Ghani’s international flavor fits the bill.
Janelle Monae is a superstar-in-waiting. She might not yet sell the same number of albums or downloads as the pop acts filling the charts, but her assured live performances and undeniable charisma make it seem like it’s only a matter of time before America catches on to the vibrant soul and R&B songstress.
That charisma was on full display Sunday night at Red Butte Garden–as was the fact Utah hasn’t quite caught on to Monae, considering there was more space to move around than most shows at the 3,000-person venue. The fact it wasn’t a sell-out didn’t deter Monae and the dozen or so musicians, singers and hype men on stage from getting the entire audience on its collective feet for a show full of epic performances from her still-brief career.
The black-and-white “uniforms” Monae and her band wear made for a striking visual, even as the show started in sunlight, and they delivered a show the likes of which I can’t recall ever seeing at the lush amphitheater. A rock-solid band, synchronized dance steps and some theatrical asides all blended with Monae’s sound incorporating old-school soul and funk with futuristic R&B to make for a show sure to be talked about for a while for those in attendance.
Monae hit the stage like Hannibal Lecter, wheeled out on a cart and strapped into a straightjacket as the sounds of “Suite IV Electric Overture” filled the air. She burst out of her constraints to take the mic for a boisterous “Given’ Em What They Love,” a powerful, slinky tune from Monae’s 2013 release, The Electric Lady.
Much of the set came from The Electric Lady, including the incredibly energetic Dance Apocalyptic early on. Monae dedicated “Q.U.E.E.N.” to “all the queens here tonight” (perhaps a nod to the PRIDE weekend celebrants in attendance?), and the title track was turned into an audience singalong despite many folks’ unfamiliarity with her music. Between those new songs, she dropped the noirish “Sincerely, Jane,” a horn-blasted burner from her first release Metropolis: Suite I The Chase, from 2007.
Around midway through the show, Monae started paying tribute to some of her influences, mixing in stellar cover songs with some of her own biggest hits. A medley of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and “ABC” got the crowd riled and dancing frenetically, and she followed it up with “Heroes” by her brother in alien androgyny David Bowie, dedicating the song to “anyone who’s ever been bullied.”
She introduced one of her biggest hits, “Cold War,” with a speech about how “we’re all fighting for love, peace, justice and freedom,” and Monae shut down the main set with her excellent banger “Tightrope.”
Monae’s encore lived up to the rest of the show, starting with what was basically the only ballad of the night, “Prime Time.” After a show full of high-energy dancing, searing guitar solos, heavy percussion and blaring horn parts, the focus on simply Monae’s crystal-clear voice was a welcome change-up, and proof that she doesn’t have to rely on the huge band and theatrics to get over. She is fully capable of sitting on stage on a stool and mesmerizing with her voice, and “Prime Time” showed that.
Of course, I’m glad she prefers a big show, because that includes her killer cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” that came next, a winning nod to one of her most obvious influences and a collaborator on Monae’s latest album. A couple more songs, including “Come Alive” and Monae leading her band through samples of sounds from different cities–“Memphis! New York! Augusta, Georgia!”–and Monae had successfully heated up what was a damn chilly night on the hillside.
It was deeply satisfying as a fan who had seen Monae a couple times previous to Sunday night. I can only imagine she made some new converts with what was a highly entertaining show–and the kind of gig you don’t see every day in Utah.
JANELLE MONAE, RED BUTTE GARDEN, Sunday, June 8, 7 p.m., $62
There is simply no way to listen to one of Janelle Monae’s Grammy-nominated songs, or watch a clip of her on YouTube, and glean what an incredible live show the Kansas City native puts on. Watching Monae lead a big funk band through a show is like seeing James Brown or Prince at the height of their powers, and that is no hyperbole. Monae is THAT good. I first learned of her prowess on stage several years ago when Monae came to Salt Lake City as the opening act for Of Montreal at In The Venue. I became a fan for life after seeing her blend touches of science fiction and performance art into a show rooted in funk and soul music. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, a genuinely thrilling spectacle that caught many in the audience off-guard. A couple years later, Monae returned to Utah for a show opening for Bruno Mars. Mars has become a superstar in the years since, and headlined the Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year. On the night Monae opened for him, she blew his show away with her energy, style and sound. Last fall, Monae released her second full-length album, a set called The Electric Lady. It’s a fine addition to her catalog, and features several guests who have discovered a kinship with the talented Monae, including Prince and Erykah Badu.
Emmylou Harris is a pretty ideal choice to open the annual summer concert series at Red Butte Garden. Like the venue itself, she is classy to no end, and while she might have some years on her, she doesn’t seem any the worse for wear.
The woman is a living legend, thanks to her multi-decade career and incredible track record as an artist. She boasts an amazing voice, even at the age of 67. And her blend of folk, country and twang-tinged rock is a nice combo for a crowd that brings together both rabid music fans and casual picnic-lovers jonesing for quality outdoor time in SLC.
Tuesday night, after Nathanial Rateliff delivered an opening set that certainly won him some new fans in Utah, Harris fronted her stellar band through 22 songs spanning her career, paying homage to influential peers like Gram Parsons and Anna McGarrigle over the course of two hours on stage.
She began with a burst of excellent songs, and while it took a few songs for Harris and the band to lock in the sound on an occasionally blustery night in the amphitheater, they eventually started producing some of the stunning sounds that are a hallmark of Harris’ shows. “Here I Am,” “Orphan Girl” and “Making Believe,” a song from her excellent 1977 Luxury Liner album, made for a pretty ideal opening trio.
Throughout the evening, the ever-charming Harris chatted with the crowd between songs, introducing them to some of her history, or simply letting them know what inspired her to write or record songs like “Red Dirt Girl,” the upbeat “Even Cowgirls Gets the Blues” and “That’s the Way It Goes.”
She introduced “O Evangeline” by saying “This is a song about getting old, which is something I’m learning a lot about. When she followed up with an excellent version of “Green Pastures,” accented beautifully with a mandolin solo, she said, “Since it’s a gospel tune, you gotta make sure you’re in tune, or you might get zapped.”
She followed up “One of These Days,” a song made famous by George Jones, with her stirring first-person narrative “My Name is Emmitt Till,” a song delivered from the perspective of the teenage black boy murdered in 1955 in Mississippi, one of the flashpoints of the civil rights movement.
As the sky darkened and temperature dropped, Harris led the band through winning takes of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty,” “Michelangelo,” a raucous “Luxury Liner 40 Tons of Steel,” and “Darlin’ Kate,” dedicated to her friend and collaborator McGarrigle.
Her Grammy-winning 2014 collaboration with Rodney Crowell was represented by “Back When We Were Beautiful,” and she covered the classic Drifters’ tune “Save the Last Dance for Me.” Harris and the band only did one song during the encore, but it was brilliant–“Boulder to Birmingham” from her 1975 Pieces of the Sky album proved a perfect capper on an evening that was almost perfect, too.
Daniel Nailen 