Big Bad SL,UT
Salt Lake City might just be the rice cake of American metropolitan areas.
It was pretty bland.
A high emphasis on pretty, though.
The city itself is a large case study on the alluring effect mountains have on our psyche. Yes, they’re always stunning in the distance. Every morning we’d see the clouds roll over the snow covered peaks and think, “wow, this is great.” And then a second later we’d be like, “wow, those look fake for some reason.”
Like we were living in the dome from The Truman Show.
Incredible 360-degree views? Check. Unpredictable weather patterns? Check. Oddly cheery residents in clothing straight from the 1950s? Check.
Mormons. (Said in the way Josh Peck says Megan from Drake & Josh)
Couldn’t ride the train on Sundays.
Mormons.
Good architecture reserved for temples and nothing else.
Mormons.
Strangers taking video of you on the bus while going to the park?
Not Mormons, but creepy as hell and also probably on brand for them anyway.
I’ll go more into that last one later.
Thursday
After we slept most of Wednesday away my aunt and I made quick work of the free hotel breakfast and mapped out a plan to see all of what downtown Salt Lake City offered. We also needed to get our wristbands for the Kilby Block Party — our main reason for being in Utah.
We walked an average of 10-12 miles a day between Thursday and Monday. Pounding the pavement from street to street, park to park, brewery to brewery, we definitely saw all of what SLC can provide.
Although we didn’t see any grocery stores, which was weird.
Everything was under construction. Thousands upon thousands of new apartment buildings are going up.
Like any place, it’s nice in some parts, rougher in others. Public transport was helpful when we could use it. As you can see, the Temple Square was immaculate. The Tabernacle dome, the original temple, even the admin building had some effort put into it. The Jazz arena, meanwhile, looked like Dunder Mifflin HQ. It makes the Van Andel Arena look hip by comparison.
The Olympic tributes were a cool touch. As were the hints of mural art and fish sculptures. Top hat fish was my favorite.
After we walked for hours and hours, we set off for the Kilby Court, got our wristbands, hit up yet another brewery, for which my aunt said I was getting her drunk after 3 beers (oops!), and then looked for dinner.
Not much going on.
I don’t know what SLC is know for, but if you’re visiting, try Itto Sushi. It was honestly the best sushi I’ve hand in any landlocked US state.
With our test-run over, it was time to head back to the hotel and prepare for the weekend.
Kilby Block Party 4
I finally got to see The Strokes!
If I’m honest (and let’s face it, that’s my default as I am a classically bad liar), that was the sole reason for this trip. Before this trip I was 0/3 when buying tickets to one of my favorite bands. That’ three times where I bought tickets and they had to cancel due to COVID.
And then the freak rainstorms kept happening.
My aunt had to keep me optimistic as some of Saturday’s shows were cut short due to lightning.
Then it happened, albeit with a shortened set. It was glorious.
But not as glorious as Day 3.
Let’s backpedal, first.
Day 1 featured Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Japanese Breakfast, Remi Wolf (wsg Dominic Fike), Lucius, Westerman, Jean Dawson, and Sunhills.
Jean Dawson was and still is the surprise of the year, and later Remi Wolf and Dominic Fike did a great live duet of Photo ID (gee, I wonder why I like that song). In addition to The Strokes, YYY were definitely on my concert bucket list and Karen O did nothing to disappoint.
While great overall, the first day was mired by poor merch line structures and a bathroom layout that was thankfully fixed on Day 2.
The second day was incredible. It was the day that somehow gave me no conflicts when the schedule came out and saved me three separate trips to Detroit later this year. The Strokes, Hippo Campus, Caroline Polachek, Goth Babe, Gus Dapperton, The Moss, and Sunsleeper all crushed it.
Shoutout to Rachel on the giant watermelon.
Check out my Instagram for videos on The Strokes set.
Day 3. What to say about Day 3. Even better, if you can believe it. Pavement. Off the list. The Walkmen. Off the list. The local acts killed it. People were climbing buildings during Surf Curse. Pixies played longer than they should’ve in a lightning storm that I was taking photos of through my clear backpack.
Pavement, Pixies, Surf Curse, The Backseat Lovers, The Walkmen, Tolchock Trio, Mannequin Pussy, Deeper, Worlds Worst, and Backhand was the 4th best day of music I’ve ever seen.
I also ate a baguette Hamilton Leithauser threw into the crowd. That moment alone got me high fives from random people in the audience AND some pumped up The Walkmen fan on the streets by the train station.
During the shelter-in-place post Pixies, many people felt comfortable enough to confront me about my Green Bay Packers windbreaker despite lightning touching down inside the fairgrounds.
Pavement was delayed an hour due to the weather (and we missed our main train afterward) but you couldn’t ask for a better 21-song festival set to close out the whole damn gig.
Not to mention a woman straight-up gave me a free Strokes tee at the train platform because “I bought it on Saturday to get out of the rain but it’s too big for me. You looked like you had a really nice time during the show.”
Yes! Another win for being tall in a crowd. Suck it, haters.
Monday
Hiking Day!
After failing miserably to go on a hike during last year’s road trip, my aunt and I set our sights on the Red Butte Garden, Museum of Natural History, and the trails behind it.
Not even the guy randomly recording us on the bus could dampen our spirits.
Just like, on the bus. He didn’t look Mormon. He wore sport shorts and blue/grey tee shirt. Meanwhile he kept holding his phone low in his hand like both thumbs needed to be close to the record circle.
I noticed a few times before my aunt glared at me, acknowledging that both of us knew what was happening.
It’s not like we were dressed provocatively. She had a black White Stripes tee and blue jeans while I wore some blue shorts and a Car Seat Headrest tee. But this guy definitely got his memory card’s worth of photos.
I checked Reddit that afternoon, but nothing popped up on the SLC feed.
Anyway, hiking.
Sure, we may have “crossed” the “restricted access” line, but it’s just rocks.
Final Musings
While it was nice, I can’t see myself heading back there. If I went to Utah again, it would be to dip into Zion National Park after a stint in Vegas or something.
The taco stand at the festival rivaled the taco trucks in LA. Not sure how they did it, but blue maize tortillas with chicken tinga and a homemade salsa verde hit so many of the right spots.
The main Mormon temple was under construction to withstand a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, we were told. What do they know that we don’t?
I got thanked for being tall at The Strokes set because “nobody wants to stand behind me and that gave (him) more room to dance and be free.”
Seven people tried to shame me for being too tall at The Strokes show and even attempted a human chain to break through my area. I shoved them back. They did not retaliate.
The merch building was clearly the hog barn (next to the sheep barn).
