The Tale of Two High School Besties Who Ended Up In Utah; Kilby Block Party Review Edition
My best friend from high school, Evelyn, and I bonded over our love of music. Instead of talking about our anatomy and physiology homework senior year, we were talking about The Vamps, Louis the Child, or Niall Horan’s new solo career (which was new in 2017, by the way. Do we not remember the rage that was Flicker? “Slow Hands”? “This Town”?).
When we found the fourth iteration of the Kilby Block Party lineup through a random Instagram ad in February of 2023, featuring favorites like Dominic Fike, Gus Dapperton, and Remi Wolf, we knew we were going to be in Salt Lake City every May for the foreseeable future.
This year was no different. We texted each other immediately when early bird tickets were released and purchased them. After a few “Hey, we should really look at hotels for Kilby” texts between us, we were ready for the show.
Before we knew it, we were waking up to the Utah mountains in our musty hotel room with a Celsius and a smile, slathering sunscreen on our backs and running to the train. We were more strategic this year about our hotel placement, purposefully putting ourselves within 500 ft of Salt Lake City public transport, knowing that we are not girls who wake up on time. And that’s just about how day one started.]
FRIDAY
Day One: We started in a big way with Annie DiRusso, who played for thirty rockin’ minutes.
In her usual iconic fashion, DiRusso first introduced her all-male bandmates by her own name, reminding the audience that they own the stage. The performance had a heavy rock influence while simultaneously exploring complicated emotions intertwined with heartbreak, toxic exes, and other things all twenty-somethings can relate to. After multiple calls from fans to play the unreleased track “Legs”, which has received lots of positive feedback on social media, DiRusso threw it in as the second-to-last song of the set. DiRusso said “Legs” would be out this summer, so keep your eyes peeled, Pleaser Nation!
Next up, all the way across the venue, we saw Peach Pit, who drew a big afternoon crowd. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Neil Smith and his band, Chris Vanderkooy on guitar, Peter Wilson on bass, and Mikey Pascuzzi on drums, truly delivered a psychedelic performance, accompanied by an equally mesmerizing background! Some fan favorites were “Alrighty Aphrodite,” which vibrated the concrete with its brooding instrumentals, and “Shampoo Bottles,” which has a more classic, light-hearted, indie-pop dance beat. Smith seemed to effortlessly deliver his classic, melodic vocals over the band’s signature distorted sound.
On a side stage named “The Desert Stage”, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Adrian Galvin started up, just as a mid-afternoon shade set over the fairgrounds. Better known as Yoke Lore, Galvin rocked the banjo for most of his hour-long show, which set a fun, dance vibe. With just a drummer and a folk-pop downbeat accompanying him, he set his own pace and got the crowd invested by showing us his true passion for music. Galvin ended with “Good Pain,” one of the four songs on his 2017 EP that carries the same name. The EP also features the track “Beige,” which you might recognize from the 2019 romance/drama “After” starring Josephine Langford. “Beige” epitomizes an all-encompassing devotion to another, described in the chorus:
[You know you're beautiful
But that ain't half the gold treasure in your soul what you got 'cause I want it all
With your fingers in my mouth, I fail to see your faults]
Many admire beauty and think they’ve fallen in love, but true passion lies in finding imperfections and recognizing those as what makes someone whole. That’s the treasure Galvin is referencing here. The outro, “so please don't let me fall,” acknowledges that we’re all scared to be left, but trusting the process is what creates relationships.
Last but not least was a sunset-into-nighttime performance by Vampire Weekend. My middle school dream was coming true. Vampire Weekend started in 2006 and has put out five studio albums since; their most recent, “Only God Was Above Us” was released on April 5th of this year. The band is currently on a North American and European tour for the album that wraps up in December, so the setlist featured a healthy mix of new and old songs. Being the last show, Vampire Weekend had the longest performance of the day. I’ll be honest: the cool weather and excitement of day one got to us, so we only stayed for the beginning portion of the show. However, we did get to see the band perform “Capricorn,” a song off the new album.
On my first album listen, this was my favorite tune, and it's not just because Capricorn is the sign before my own (Aquarius). The song builds quickly to a punchy chorus lined with tambourines and kickdrums. Capricorn is called out, bringing us right into the action:; loud piano, crashing chords, and a little snare drum to seal it all together.
[Capricorn
The year that you were born
Finished fast
And the next one wasn't yours]
SATURDAY
DAY TWO: After a cold end to Friday, we were pleasantly surprised to wake up to 70 degrees and sunshine on Saturday. The day started at 12:50 pm with Arcy Drive, who visited Pleaser HQ in Nashville at the end of March! Another unfortunate reality of this trip was that we were reliant on Salt Lake City public transit, which did not lend itself to being prompt. Long story short: we only heard the last ten minutes of their thirty-minute set. Regardless, being one of the first shows of the day, they really had the energy up! Brooke Tuozzo held it down on the drums, while Nick Mateyunas’s rasp and flare on lead vocals generated Arcy’s signature flare. Austin Jones, sporting a very fun and fuzzy hat with a tail, and Pat Helrigel on guitar and bass brought it all together.
The final song was “Roll My Stone,'' which is up to over 6 million streams on Spotify! It was really fun to see a newer band generate such an engaged crowd. My favorite Arcy Drive song is “Time Shrinks,” though, and I think I’m better off not knowing if I missed them playing that one.
Krooked Kings played at 2:00pm, and while we waited, we heard the end of Malcolm Todd’s set at the stage next door. I am not too familiar with Krooked Kings or Malcolm Todd, but we had a great time at both. Todd’s first album, “Sweet Boy,” came out on April 5th of this year and has already generated a big audience. “Sweet Boy” has 15 tracks, including “Roommates,” which was released as a single on June 22nd, 2023, and has over 30 million streams on Spotify! The fangirls were FANGIRLING. Todd is currently on tour for “Sweet Boy,” coming to a North American city near you.
Everybody’s favorite boy band is how Krooked Kings describes themselves, and I’d say that’s pretty accurate.
The show was rock through and through, with a few short moments to catch our breath. One of those moments was for “‘96 Subaru,” which is the band's broken-hearted ballad. The song garners its name from the repeating lines, “And I've been stuck on the same old tunes, oh, the ones that make me think of you, we were chasing headlights in my '96 Subaru,” which exemplifies a post-breakup shadow illustrated through a song you can't stop singing.
We were in desperate need of some female energy, and in perfect time for Slow Pulp. Lead singer and guitarist Emily Massey is the soul of the sound. Her low tonnage and delicate pacing, combined with loud rock elements and a techno haze, create an incredibly unique listen. “Slugs,” from the band's 2023 album Yard, starts with guitar strums and a thick percussion section, but after a few seconds, is coupled with Massey’s soft hum. Massey navigates another post-breakup reality: wanting to get back together. She puts it simply, singing, “Perfect, all the ways I know we, fit together, I think I want back in,”
The outro repeats the phrase, “‘cause you’re a summer hit, and I’m singing it,” paired with a background of looped da-da-da’s from Massey.
In the same vein as Krooked Kings, another ending to a relationship represented by a repeating phrase.
The crowd at TV Girl was a little shocked at first to see male singer Brad Petering on stage, singing his hypnotic bedroom pop alongside pianist Wyatt Harmon and drummer Jack Wyman. One of his first tracks was the familiar “Cigarettes out the Window,” which the girls behind me described as “such a hot song.” The intro is a ringing, synthed-out beat that, if you listen in headphones, switches from left ear to right. This song is an ode to first relationships, to youth, and to smoking cigarettes at nighttime. Within the first verse, the scene is set: “My girl Liddy used to always smoke, cigarettes when she couldn't sleep,”
Liddy, her cigarettes, and her allusiveness are the focal points of the song, and the naivety of the narrator is highlighted by his many versions of what she’s up to. The instrumentals between each verse were dominated by Petering’s two female backup vocalists.
Our last artist of the day was a multi-instrumental performance by Joshua Karpeh, better known as Cautious Clay. Because it was right next to the TV Girl stage, we walked over early to get a spot in the front. It ended up coming in clutch because Karpeh played at least three instruments during his set: saxophone, flute, and guitar. Four if you include vocals. The hour-long set consisted mostly of raw instrumentals performed by him and his band, which included drums, guitar, and bass. One crowd favorite was “Wildfire,” which describes falling for another who you can't guarantee shares the same intentions. Karpeh opens the song by describing his desires, but pairs it with the possible pain a partner can cause, “Your eyes are like weapons, Your lips could teach lessons.”
Moving through the verse, Karpeh’s sweet voice lulls the audience through being vulnerably in love. He seals the message with the chorus, “You're starting up a wildfire in my heart, Hope it's what you want, Not just what you do.”
SUNDAY
DAY THREE: Our last day started off with another SLC public transit ride. Evelyn and I had 20 minutes to sit and wait for the right train, and with our timing, that meant we were right on track to miss our first band. As we sat and talked, a man wearing a black cowboy hat and dark blue denim crossed the street in front of us. To me, he completely blended into a Utah “starter pack”, but Evelyn quickly said, “Oh my god, that’s TV Girl!” Without thinking, I shouted, “TV Girl!” To which he turned, smiled,waved, and continued walking up the street. We giddily laughed like children and waved back. Even though I live in New York City, my celebrity interactions have been minimal, so this was a big deal!
Though it ended up being sort of worth it that we had to wait for the train, that means we did miss most of our next band, Petey. However, we got there just in time for one of my favorites, “Don’t Tell The Boys.” This tune explores male friendships and how they’re sometimes limited by societal expectations of what is and isn’t masculine. Peter Martin, lead singer and instrumentalist, examines this, best exemplified in the lines, “You know I hate to say ‘I love you,’ But thеre ain't no other choice,” which opens up into the repeating, scream-like chorus that sings “don’t tell the boys.” Martin describes the vulnerability of saying you love someone tangled with other people’s expectations.
The final artist we saw at Kilby was Dayglow, a familiar favorite. Sloan Christian Struble is the 24-year-old creator, voice, and multi-instrumentalist of Dayglow. Backed by a vibrant dance-pop beat, what really cements Struble as a performer is the exuberant energy he brings to the stage. “Hot Rod,” one of the many pop anthems from Struble’s 2019 album Fuzzybrain, is a song about mutually moving in a different direction than your partner. Simply put, the chorus belts, “Maybe I'm not all that you thought, and we don't move, like we used to do,” Even singing about some tough parts of growing up, Struble’s infectious positive attitude is apparent through his music. It was the perfect way to end our Kilby experience.
