TASTE OF THE WASATCH, SOLITUDE RESORT, Sunday, Aug. 4, Noon, $90/$125 for VIP in advance
When it comes to foodie extravaganzas in Utah–and we have an increasing number of events year-round that certainly qualify–there’s no beating the annual summer benefit for Utah’s hungry held at Solitude Mountain Resort. The Taste of the Wasatch brings together several dozen of Utah’s best restaurants for a tasting party that showcases both great new spots–this year including Del Mar al Lago, Zest and Avenues Proper Restaurant & Publick House–along with old favorites that are always serving up something awesome–just try and keep me away from The Glitretind at Stein Erickson Lodge’s always-killer ribs. Those places are among an amazing array of places serving all manner of cuisine, all for the benefit of organizations dedicated to fighting hunger in Utah. In fact, 100 percent of the proceeds from the event go to the Utah Food Bank, Utahns Against Hunger and Ogden Weber Community Action Partnership. Throw in wine and beer, an excellent silent auction and live music courtesy of The Staff, along with the awesome environment of Solitude resort, and you have the makings of an awesome Sunday afternoon. Due to changes in the liquor laws, Taste of the Wasatch is now only for 21 and older patrons, so help make up for any loss of money from kids who used to come by joining the fun. One bit of advice–hit the Utah Bakers Dozen dessert area first if you want to have any chance of being hungry for sweet treats before hitting the other booths.
DARLENE LOVE AND MUSCLE SHOALS LIVE, DEER VALLEY, Sunday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m., $35 lawn/$45-$55-$65 reserved
This show is a brilliant bit of booking by the good people of the Park City Performing Arts Foundation, pairing artists from two of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival’s best music documentaries for what is sure to be one smoking night of soul, R&B and rock and roll at Deer Valley. Darlene Love was one of the featured women in Twenty Feet from Stardom, the excellent doc on backup singers, and her role as a pioneering force in American pop music landed her in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. She was the voice behind myriad Phil Spector-produced hits in the ’60s, many without getting any credit for it. Her reemergence to the public eye after getting out from under the thumb of Spector is a great redemption story and is the backbone of the film. Joining her at Deer Valley is a batch of musicians from the Muscle Shoals documentary about the Alabama recording studio that became a legendary stop for musicians of all stripes looking for a classic American soul and blues sound.
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AMERICANARAMA FESTIVAL OF MUSIC FEATURING BOB DYLAN, WILCO, MY MORNING JACKET AND RYAN BINGHAM, USANA AMPHITHEATRE, Thursday, Aug. 1, 5:30 p.m., $33 lawn/$45, $60 and $80 reserved
In past years, the lineup of the Americanarama Festival of Music would be the kind of thing we’d have to travel away from Salt Lake City to enjoy, so when the tour dates were announced and included a stop at the West Valley amphitheater, I was geeked. Big time. I fall into the camp of people who never misses a Bob Dylan show if I can help it, and I can definitely say the same about both Wilco (pictured) and My Morning Jacket–two of the best live bands around. Put all of them together–heaven, baby, heaven! I have no idea what to expect from the crowd. The National show at Pioneer Park is sure to draw away vast swaths of Hipster Nation, and both Wilco and My Morning Jacket played Salt Lake City shows last summer. Even so, Dylan always draws his crowd, and if you throw in a few thousands Wilco and My Morning Jacket fans, you have the making of a pretty amazing night of music. And it starts with Oscar-winning songwriter Ryan Bingham, a headlining act in his own right, playing into that early evening sun. For those of us with a non-stop twang jones, this has the makings of the best show of what’s already been a rich summer concert season.
NATALIE MAINES, DEER VALLEY, Tuesday, July 30, 7 p.m., $40 lawn/$65-$75-$85 reserved
By the time the Dixie Chicks’ incredible hot streak of hit songs and sold-out tours lost steam after country radio flipped out over Natalie Maines’ anti-war rant about being embarrassed the then-president was from Texas, the band had grown into such a colossus that it was easy to forget what made the Chicks popular in the first place–solid musicianship, a knack for poppy hooks, and Maines’ incredible lead voice. After taking a long break from recording, and with the Chicks on hiatus except for rare festival appearances, Maines is finally stepping back into the spotlight with her first solo album, Mother. The album is named for a Pink Floyd cover she does on the album–just one indication that this is NOT a Dixie Chicks album. Instead, she heads into folk-rock territory on songs co-written with her co-producer, Ben Harper, on both originals and covers of songs by The Jayhawks, Patti Griffin, Jeff Buckley and Eddie Vedder. It’s good stuff, and her live show should be one of the best of the summer. Mary Beth Maziarz opens the show.
FRIGHTENED RABBIT, THE DEPOT, Tuesday, July 30, 9 p.m., $20
Frightened Rabbit first came to my attention about five years ago via the Scottish band’s excellent sophomore album The Midnight Organ Fight. Building on that collection with another strong one, 2010’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks, the band expanded its sound in some epic ways on songs like “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” moving from indie-rock anthems to widescreen orchestral-pop. That album’s tour was the first time I got to see Frightened Rabbit live, at a sold-out Urban Lounge show, and lead singer/songwriter Scott Hutchison proved an enthralling frontman while his fellow musicians constantly swapped positions and instruments to recreate the band’s sounds on stage. Now the band is back with a new album, Pedestrian Verse, that is easily one of my faves of 2013, and they’re playing bigger rooms this time around. They certainly have the sound to fill the added space. Pentagraham Crackers open the show.
For a guy who doesn’t tour as often as most of his country peers, Dwight Yoakam sure knows how to get it done when he does step on a stage.
Flanked by four musicians in glittering jackets that would make any amateur bedazzler proud, Yoakam hit Red Butte Garden Tuesday for a show that was not as packed as most thus far this season. But he certainly didn’t seem to worry about it, delivering nearly 30 songs across two hours that featured the mix of traditional honky-tonk and poppy flash that has been his trademark for decades.
Yoakam launched the show with “Take Hold of My Hand,” the first song on his excellent 2012 album 3 Pears. That was just the first of five new ones that he included in his set. All of them fit nicely alongside Yoakam’s classic hits, and the title track, “Waterfall” and rabble-rousing “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke” were all particularly strong performances.
At one point, Yoakam joked about his set list that “we get two new ones, and you get one old one. And later we get three new ones and you get one old one. Eventually, it’ll all just be new ones.” To the delight of those on hand–who stayed on their feet throughout and fed off the energy of Yoakam’s band and the man’s own Elvis-inspired leg twitches–he did not live up to his word.
Instead, the show was a savvy blend of career-spanning hits and well-chosen covers. “Little Sister” and his take on Buck Owens’ “Streets of Bakersfield” came early on, seguing into an inspired medley of “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose” and “Buckaroo” before hitting another Owens favorite, “Act Naturally.”
Noting the beauty of Red Butte Garden, the “stomping grounds of the Utes,” Yoakam forged ahead through strong version of “Blame the Vain,” “Close Up the Honky Tonks,” “Always Late With Your Kisses” and “If There Was a Way,” all before hitting the halfway point of the show.
Yoakam rarely left his spot at center stage, where he stood, shimmied and swiveled his hips behind a music stand as he band bashed away behind him. A slowed-down version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” led into Yoakam challenging the audience to keep up with his band.
“It’s Thursday night, y’all,” Yoakam annouanced. “Looks like we’re going to see what you’re made of!” And with that, he proceeded to lead his band through a solid dozen or so more songs, including “Nothing’s Changed Here,” “3 Pears,” “Honky Tonk Man,” “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” “Only Hurts Me When I Cry,” “Little Ways” and “Guitars, Cadillacs.”
You can attribute the relatively small crowd to competing concerts in town; the Flaming Lips probably drew some of Yoakam’s alternative-minded fans, while One Direction probably took away some parents who were entertaining their kids at that show. Even so, the energy at Red Butte Garden was great, and Yoakam proved an excellent front man with a knack for delivering a modern honky-tonk sound.
Opening the show was The Hollering Pines, a collection of locals including Marie Bradshaw, Kiki Jane Buehner, Dan Buehner and Dylan Schorer. Similar to Yoakam, they delivered traditional country originals and covers–including an excellent “Long Black Veil”–with the added bonus of excellent harmony vocals and Schorer’s lap-steel. They have an album coming this fall–keep an eye out for that one.
Daniel Nailen 