For the last 25 years, Kilby Court has been a hidden gem of the Mountain West music landscape. But since its expansion into the Kilby Block Party—with the likes of Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service, and LCD Soundsystem headlining—this staple of Utah’s concert calendar has become a draw for live music fans all across America and around the world.
For three days in May, the beating alt-indie heart of Salt Lake City descended upon the Utah State Fairgrounds for a celebration of music, art, food, and culture that was nothing short of world class—all tucked between a scene of snow-capped Rocky Mountains, no less. Even without access to the usual carnival rides of the Utah State Fair, attendees had plenty to keep busy and entertained.
Four stages—two larger ones and two smaller ones—dotted the festival grounds. The organizers did a clever job of staggering acts, with one large and one small stage activated at a time. That split, while agonizing at times, afforded ample opportunity to cross pollinate styles and sounds.
Day 1 saw the crowd torn between indie cornerstones, with Los Angeles-based indie artist Blondshell on the smaller Mountain Stage counter-programmed against New Zealand psych-rock powerhouse Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Those determined enough could have easily jaunted from one to the next in time to catch a bit of each, albeit at the expense of UMO favorites like “Multi-Love”, “Hunnybee”, and “That Life”.
Hemlocke Springs and Peach Pit followed that up with a battle between indie pop acts, as an entree into yet another indie pop act: Alvvays. Jai Paul’s British-Indian R&B and Ty Segall’s psych rock made for the most divergent duo among acts that had to compete.
Courtney Barnett took the vibes a bit more downtempo with her dry wit on “Avant Gardener” and “Pedestrian At Best”. Joanna Newsom’s triumphant return to live performance, on both harp and grand piano, was a delightful addition—not to mention, a sweet lead-in to Vampire Weekend.
The New York City-formed, now-Los Angeles-based indie rockers returned to Salt Lake City, 17 years after playing Kilby Court, to regale the crowd with selections from across their five-album catalog. Ezra Koenig and company paid plenty of attention to their new album, Only God Was Above Us, with cuts like “Classical”, “Capricorn”, “Gen-X Cops”, and “Connect”—the latter of which featured a fan coming out of the crowd to play a piano solo.
The highlight of Vampire Weekend’s set, though, came just prior to “Campus”. In a callback to a recent episode of the band’s podcast, Vampire Campfire, the guys invited Heather Gay from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City onstage to play cornhole and win band merchandise.
And that was just Friday. Saturday brought another wave of spectacular music, along with a bit of weather.
TV Girl transposed some edgy-yet-sarcastic indie rock from LA to SLC. Belle and Sebastian brought back their Scottish pop with a vengeance on the main Kilby Stage.
After a brief delay in the early evening due to high winds, the festival returned in full force with an abbreviated electropop set from Santigold. Her M.I.A.-but-cheerier vibes made for an excellent opener to the Death Cab For Cutie/The Postal Service headlining doubleheader.
As always, Ben Gibbard rocked out in both black and white outfits. Whether singing his heart out to “The New Year”, “Title and Registration”, and “The Sound of Settling” off Death Cab’s Transatlanticism or jamming with Jenny Lewis through “Such Great Heights”, “Clark Gable”, and “Brand New Colony” as The Postal Service, the sharp-penned Seattleite seemed to soak in every moment at the peak of his powers.
Sunday saw perhaps the most eclectic lineup of the weekend in terms of both style and geography. There was the electro-punk of Miami’s Yves Tumor, the Mumford-esque Spanish indie folk of Mexico’s Kevin Kaarl, the mostly-Tame psych rock of Australia’s Pond and the hyperpop of St. Louis’ 100 gecs.
The evening transitioned with the more traditional post-punk of Guided by Voices and Interpol as perfunctory palette-setters for LCD Soundsystem. James Murphy needed a tank of oxygen to replenish his wind while expending his passion on the audience. Though the New York City legends didn’t drop “Daft Punk is Playing at My House”, they still put forth plenty of dance-punk favorites, from “Get Innocuous” and “Tonite” to “Dance Yrself Clean” and “All My Friends”.
Rarely has a festival seen all of its headliners deliver in such spectacular fashion as LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie, and The Postal Service did at Kilby Block Party. And rarely has a festival, in turn, provided such a scenic setting, with such an enthusiastic audience, as Kilby did to its visiting artists.
With a combination of factors like that, it stands to reason that Kilby Block Party will only grow in size and scope, as will the caliber of talent that drops into Salt Lake City in May.
Click below to view daily photo galleries from Kilby Block Party 2024 courtesy of photographer Brent Goldman.
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