KRIS ORLOWSKI, KILBY COURT, Wednesday, March 20, 7 p.m., $8
You might take a look at that photo of Kris Orlowski and thing the troubadour from the Pacific Northwest is another in a long line of simple folkie songwriters. But listen to his album Pieces We Are, and you quickly realize there is a lot more going on than simply a man crooning to an acoustic guitar. Some tunes are fleshed out with the four-piece band that will join him on his current tour, while others feature a 17-piece orchestra that give Orlowski’s music a heft you’d hardly define as “folk.” His winning baritone goes a long way toward that end as well. The Last Bison headlines the show.
KING NIKO/HANG TIME/CATHY FOY, THE URBAN LOUNGE, Saturday, March 16, 9 p.m., Free
The first time I heard King Niko, a few months before they won City Weekly’s “band of the year” in 2011, they came on as a swaggering, brash pop-rock machine with a stage presence that was undeniable, even if some of the songs were still evolving into shape. A couple years later–a couple of hard-working years, full of gigs, tours, writing and recording–the band emerges with a new set, Oh, Hey, that is a rock-solid step forward in their energetic evolution. And thankfully, the swagger remains. While this show serves as a CD release party for Oh, Hey, it also includes some more dance-party-worthy locals on the bill in the form of Hang Time, the latest project of Will Sartain, Cathy Foy, Andrew Sato and TJ Fitzgerald, as well as Cathy Foy celebrating her own solo CD release. It’s a big fat night of local excellence–and you can dance to it! I suggest you do.
For those of us of Irish descent, St. Patrick’s Day offers an upside, and a downside. The downside is that the holiday inevitably turns a lot of favorite watering holes into amateur hour, with unseasoned partiers treating the day as if it were New Year’s Eve. Thankfully, the upside typically beats out the negative aspects easily. And that is certainly the case this year thanks to a confluence of activities that can fill you with the Irish spirit for a solid 24 hours.
It starts Friday night, with the always excellent Flogging Molly headlining a show at the Saltair that also includes Mariachi El Bronx and DoNots on the bill. The show is part of Flogging Molly’s 9th annual Green 17 tour, a yearly jaunt of 17 shows leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. The fact that we get Flogging Molly’s show on the eve of Salt Lake City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, making for a perfect excuse to get the party started on Friday night–and recover Saturday morning at the Gateway’s parade scene. Flogging Molly’s show starts at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and is $25.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, and runs through the heart of the Gateway mall. It’s always fun to see the sauced-up floats and even more-sauced-up announcers call the action at the parade. And the follow-up siamsa–a Guinness-soaked party thrown by the state’s Hibernian Society, takes place at the Gateway Grand Hall. It starts at 10:45 and runs all day.
And talk about convenient–later Saturday night at The Depot, L.A.-based Irish rockers Young Dubliners headline a show that also includes the local Celtic-flavored sounds of Swagger. A perfect capper for an Irish-themed weekend. The show starts at 8 p.m., and costs $25 at the door.
THE ENGLISH BEST, THE STATE ROOM, Thursday, March 14, 8 p.m., $40
Dave Wakeling has become one of those artists I’m sure to go see every chance I get. Whether touring under the English Beat moniker, which he is this time around, or General Public (the short-lived sequel band to the Beat), Wakeling always delivers a stellar show of high-energy dance-rock rooted in the two-tone ska scene of the Beat’s 1979 British beginnings. Songs like “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Best Friend,” his cover of “Tears of a Clown” and General Public’s biggest hit, “Tenderness,” still resound decades after Wakeling and Co. released them into the world, a fact proven by the fact Wakeling can continue to tour the world playing English Beat songs, packing venues large and small. This week’s show in Salt Lake City should be a particular treat, thanks to it happening in the cozy confines of The State Room, just three short months after the band destroyed at The Depot. 2 1/2 White Guys open the show.
First off, let me make clear I have nothing against hunting or wolves.
Which is why I’m annoyed that the state Legislature is considering spending $300,000 to prevent the return of gray wolves to Utah.
I believe a Utahn can be an environmentalist and a hunter, so I’d be delighted to know wolves are roaming again in their historic territory—it just makes us wilder in the eyes of tourists.
Yes, the wolves will knock off a lamb, here and there (for which the government will reimburse the rancher), and yes, they’ll kill weak members of the deer, elk and moose populations, which should produce a healthier, smarter herd that is more challenging to hunt.
Besides, when the state gets wolf numbers to the point they are taking weak and slow-witted members of the human population—we can sell permits at astronomical amounts to trophy freaks. (Not to mention the jump in fees for concealed weapon licenses.)
What would be a more meaningful challenge to a two-legged predator than to stalk one of North America’s wiliest four-legged predators? Afterall, no one believes that hunting big game is about bringing home cheap protein.
Case in point, a trophy hunter bid $310,000 (that would buy a big-assed steak, for sure) for the right to hunt a buck mule deer on Antelope Island.
Now, all we have to do is get the Boone & Crockett Club to add a trophy category for the biggest, ugliest wolf. They already have listings for cougar and jaguar.
THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN/SALLIE FORD & THE SOUND OUTSIDE, THE URBAN LOUNGE, Saturday, March 9, 9 p.m., $15
Thao Nguyen has proven herself a master of winning songcraft over the course of just a few albums, and her latest recorded with her band the Get Down Stay Down, We The Common, continues her streak crafting releases full of undeniable hooks and feel-good vibes. That’s not to say her music is light; the title track was inspired by Nguyen’s volunteer work with the California Coalition of Women Prisoners. This show is her first in Salt Lake City since traveling through with NPR’s Radiolab program, and she’s joined by another killer, female-led crew in Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside. The Portland-based band’s latest, Untamed Beast, is a soulful blast of retro-tinged rock that packs a sexy swagger that should pair most excellently with Thao’s tunes. It will be hard to beat this one-two punch this weekend.
Tha
Daniel Nailen 