- April 1 (Tues)
Who: The True Loves
Where: The State Room
When: 8pm
What: Seattle’s coming to town, and it’s for a perfectly great cause: The True Loves are performing on April Fool’s Day to help celebrate The State Room’s 16th year of bringing music to the appreciative masses. If you’ve heard the Budos Band (or a string of like minded others on the Daptone label), that’s kind of all that needs saying. All dirty horns and drums take the place of vocals. You won’t be able to sing along, but they will make you dance. And a very happy birthday, TSR!
- April 5 (Sat)
Who: Metalachi
Where: Urban Lounge
When: 7pm
What: If this band sounds like one of those ideas that shouldn’t exactly work, please remember that’s just how most good ideas are born. The weirder they are, the better. Far from “just” being a mariachi band that knows its way around a Metallica tune or two, this L.A. group can do all that and then a lot more. Heavy metal isn’t a genre mariachi artists dip into so regularly in Mexican restaurants or while busking for pesos and dollars south of the border, but it totally, totally works. More of this ilk, por favor.
- April 8 (Tues)
Who: Ghost-Note
Where: The State Room
When: 8pm
What: Considering Ghost-Note is dropping their latest (Mustard N’ Onions) less than two weeks after this show, the performance may as well serve as an unofficial album release party. Headed up by two of Snarky Puppy’s heavyweights, Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth, this band is what musicians sound like when they’re having as much fun as possible. And it’s funky. And there’s percussion. All of it sounds so next level, it’s best to leave comparisons by the wayside, enjoying that they’ve left all true limits of how it’s been before totally behind.
- April 12 (Sat)
Who: Vieux Farka Touré
Where: The State Room
When: 8pm
What: For me, it was the poster that drew me in. That’s all I needed. Then I heard that Vieux Farka Touré hailed from Niafunké, Mali, and is referred to as The Hendrix of the Sahara, and that intrigued me more. By the time I listened to a few of his albums, with windows down and timed to coincide with a pink and waning sunset, I was more than sold. This is driving music in the vein of Khruangbin, after all, with a dash of extra otherworldliness tossed in. Most songs he sings and plays automatically feel like they need to belong to a soundtrack. Whatever hype you’ve heard, believe it.
- April 15 (Tues)
Who: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Where: Urban Lounge
When: 7pm
What: Story time: 20 short years ago, this Philly band skipped us in these parts, but got as close as Boulder (CO). I took a road trip eight hours one way to see them play a renovated movie theater along with Architecture in Helsinki. In brief, it was 100% worth the effort. Now that they’re playing a cozy neighborhood bar and performing their debut in its entirety (!!), it feels like a gift they forgot to give us two decades ago. Some gifts are better late than never ever.
- April 23 (Wed)
Who: Butcher Brown
Where: The State Room
When: 8pm
What: Hot tip: don’t try too hard to figure this band out. My local library had their album firmly lodged in its Jazz section — they’re even billed as a jazz quintet most places you look — but the music feels like hip hop at times and rap other times. If nothing else, the band’s a grab bag of impossible greatness, and you’d be wise not to sleep on seeing what they can do on the right stage and in the proper setting. Touring being their recently released Letters From The Atlantic (as in last Friday!), be prepared for a lot of the brand new. For extra bonus points of what’s on its way, check this out.
- April 29 (Tuesday)
Who: Post-Malone Presents: The BIG ASS Stadium Tour
Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium
When: 7:30pm
What: Last but hardly least, local famous nice guy Post-Malone is starting what is reportedly his eight concert tour of these United States in Utah this month. And, considering he’s gone all in on the country stage of his career, he’s bringing some friends of that persuasion along with him to open (Sierra Farrell, Jelly Roll). Consider this your advisory: do not show up late.
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