If you can stand the heat, Salt Lake City in the summertime is an excellent place for live music. In the coming months, a wide variety of venues will offer musical outings for music fans of all shapes and sizes, from jazz and classical to electronica and reggae. Here’s a brief taste of what’s happening in SLC music this summer.
A favorite amongst locals for its outdoor concert series, Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre will be hosting a handful of all-ages shows continuing into September. Upcoming highlights include classic rockers Steely Dan (August 10), guitar wizard John Butler and his John Butler Trio (August 14), as well as reggae mainstays Michael Franti and Spearhead (August 18), jazz legend Wayne Shorter (August 29), and singer/songwriter Neko Case, formerly of The New Pornographers (September 16).
Downtown Salt Lake’s Urban Lounge is another venue to watch, with an eclectic mix of indie rock, hip-hop and electronic music billed in the coming months. Hip-hop heads should be sure to catch Stone’s Throw Records’ Soul Tour (featuring label founder Peanut Butter Wolf and synth-funk weirdo Dam Funk), which stops at the Lounge on August 21; other notable upcoming shows include dance-punk act !!! (pronounced “chk chk chk”) (August 29) and a live set from always-intriguing singer/songwriter/electronic musician Baths (September 19).
Salt Lake’s Pioneer Park will also be continuing its Twilight Concert Series, catering mostly to fans of indie rock and hip-hop. Atlanta rapper Ludacris is slated for an August 15th appearance, followed by performances from Kid Cudi and King Chip (August 22), Australia’s Empire of the Sun (August 29), and capped off with a September 5th show from MGMT and Foxygen.
Fans of classical music will be drawn to the Utah Symphony and Opera’s ongoing calendar, which features upcoming events including August 14’s Utah Symphony Night at the Gallivan Center with conductor Vlademir Kulenovic, and the September 6th 30th Anniversary Tanner Gift of Music Concert, showcasing the sounds of James Taylor, The Utah Symphony, and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir .
Bio:
A Utah transplant born and raised in Chicago, Nathan Fink has been living and breathing music as long as he can remember. Currently finishing his senior year at Colorado College, he’s been working with and writing about electronic music since 2009; first as an intern with Los Angeles’ Friends of Friends record label and more recently as a contributing editor and writer at Off The Deep End Live, an online music publication he runs with a group of friends. He credits his love of music to his father—who introduced him to the sounds of artists like Herbie Hancock, Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa—and some of his current favorite acts include Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, Four Tet and Todd Terje. When in Colorado, he hosts a weekly online radio show, Bananas Flambé, through Colorado College’s SOCC station.