Every year, but moreso in 2025 than recently, I feel like I’m not going to be able to identify truly great albums. This is an ongoing neurosis, I guess, because it wasn’t hard to find a selection of really outstanding 2025 alternative albums.
That isn’t the same as saying 2025 was a great music year. For the first time in awhile, I thought, “this was a pretty off year.” Normally I’m the You’re Just Not Listening Enough guy. Generally I think rock and roll improves every year. But it’s not a straight line and 2025 was definitely a strange year for alternative music.
These 25 records, and a dozen or so honorable mentions, were the exception. So let’s have a listen!
UPDATED Kilby Block Party Parking for 2025: Parking has gotten no better near the Fairgrounds. But the convenience of Kilby’s UTA options are unmatched. Read on for Day Of, Pre-paid and 100% free options to get in and out of the 2025 festival!
Check out these two dozen or so albums for the indie soundtrack of 2025!
Have you been to the Utah State Fairpark? Possibly not, you’re an urbane city-dweller with limited interest in competitive lamb grooming. But you have multiple options getting in and out. Here is what to do.
I had two or three 2024 alternative albums in mind all year and I was SURE one of them was going to be my #1. But no! I ultimately surprised myself with my top choice this year. Still, I’ve never been more persuaded in my favorite record of 2024.
Every year it seems I can inevitably conjure just one or two records that I think will be worth writing about. Then I spend two weeks in rapturous review — oh that was so good! and wow that one was amazing! Canonizing my favorite 2024 alternative albums is really more for me than for you.
No matter who you were hoping to see in the Kilby Block Party lineup for 2025, you were bound to find some terrific bands along with a few headscratchers. It’s the nature of booking music. Kilby isn’t curating a personal playlist for you. They’re trying to draw 30,000 people to the Utah State Fairgrounds next May 15-18. They’re also trying to turn a profit in the process.
Some of the down ballot candidates here are going to be the big hits for me. Headliners tend to have a Dad Rock appeal. Let’s have a look at the music planned for Kilby’s 2025 event and possibly a few of the bands you may have overlooked but shouldn’t! Let’s have a look.
Stop your blog buzz – even if deserved – about Adrianne Lenker. The WaxahatcheeTigers Blood album is hitting on every level as a Top 10 album of 2024. Both Lenker and Katie Crutchfield play Salt Lake City in the next 75 days, so we can compare their live shows side-by-side. But I’ve compared their studio releases and Tigers Blood is top shelf. This is what I love about it.
I don’t blame anyone for missing some of the best 2023 indie music.
Like all years, 2023 had too many songs, too much buzz, way too much music for any mortal to keep track of. But now here is some help. These 3 records (probably) won’t make my Top 25 in 2023 but they are excellent releases. Listen to them, buy their music, get ready for 2023 indie music Year End Lists!
The Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup promises a blowout before Sunday night’s lineup featuring Pavement. I’ve scouted out every Saturday band from renowned to obscure. You can hear samples of most of every band below.
HEY HEY STOP! Are you looking for the **2024** LINEUP?!! Click here for band reviews!
Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup: Topline takeaways!
Here are some quick expectations for the Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup:
Saturday will have higher highs than Kilby’s Friday night lineup. If The Strokes’ Casablancas throws himself into it — and that’s an open question — the jog from Weyes Blood at 6:25p to RTJ at 7:35p and The Strokes at 8:45p could be a hoot.
Get to the venue early on Saturday! I’m excited to see Salt Lake City’s Kipper Snack for the first time. They play shortly after 12p noon. If you’re not there by noon, DO NOT miss Tamino at 1:20p and Grace Ives at 1:35p.
Couple of Saturday conflicts, starting with dual start times for Alex G and Wallice at 3:25p. Those two will probably split the audience by age. Also, Osees and Run the Jewels both play at 7:35. I’d really like to see both. However, Osees will play a late DJ set at the Urban Lounge Saturday night.
Here is my recommended Saturday plan. Listen for all these bands below. As always, IMMV.
Saturday
12:15 Kipper Snack 12:45 This looks like Break #1 for me 1:20 Tamino 1:55 Grace Ives 2:30 Tanukichan 3:25 Alex G (May cross over to see Wallice) 4:15 Break #2 5:15 Indigo De Souza 6:25 Weyes Blood 7:35 Run the Jewels 8:45 The Strokes
Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup: The headliners
The wild gamut from Alex G to Weyes Blood to Run the Jewels is going to blow some minds. Let’s have a look at (my) headliners in order of appearance. We’ll start with Alex G’s afternoon performance.
Alex G
It’s actually not the easiest thing in the world to find an image of Alex Giannascoli.
I think part of that is the Elliot Smith mythos, a mystery partially burst with recent network TV appearances. Alex G has become an increasingly influential part of the indie folk/lo fi rock scene for the larger part of a decade, particularly since Beach House (2015) and Rocket (2017).
The Pennsylvania native once again charmed critics with 2022’s God Save the Animals. I didn’t immediately buy it after listening last year, but I think I am basically alone on planet Earth on that take. Here is “Miracles,” which includes the touching lyrics:
“‘I have fears that I have not addressed,’ she says Some things from my past make me feel powerless, well Baby, I pray for the children and the sinners and the animals too And I, I pray for you
Weyes Blood
Natalie Mering had been releasing music for nearly ten years before sinking the music industry on her iceberg with 2019’s Titanic Rising. She returned all the stronger in 2022 with And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. It’s a delicate throwback to pastoral soft 70’s – but punctuated with Weyes Bloods’ powerful emotion and earnestness. In her promotional material, she actually describes her heart as a glow stick.
A friend of mine in NYC, not easily impressed, was blown away by Weyes Bloods’ performance at Brooklyn Steel this spring. He noted particularly the lighting and set, with some in the audience “moved to tears” at the show’s end. I’m ready to have my cynical cold heart warmed in Mering’s ambience. And, joking aside, this is woman who knows how to write pure melody.
This is the opening track from her current album, “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody.”
Run the Jewels
I previously speculated we could get RTJ5 just in time for the Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup takes the stage. Bad news: That’s a No. Good news: Killer Mike is putting out his first solo release in a long time, Michael, on June 16. That’s pretty awesome!
Michael Render will be touring major metros with the Midnight Revival Choir starting in July. I have to believe we’ll be treated to Run the Jewel classics and previews of Michael when RTJ plays Saturday night.
Have you heard “Don’t Let the Devil?!” El-P guests along with thankugoodsir and it’s super good.
The Strokes
I feel it’s important to manage expectations with The Strokes.
I’ll go back and experiment with 2020’s The New Abnormal. Most of us, though, will be hoping for competent performances of Is This It and Room On Fire.
Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup: Supporting Acts
Part of the joy of this year’s KBP is not just the big name acts but the introduction we get to dozens of strong independent performers, many of whom I am hearing for the first time. If you’re similarly looking for an introduction, then read on.
Tamino
I am absolutely wrecked hearing Tamino tonight for the first time.
When someone is out there creating music like this and it doesn’t cross my radar, I simply feel inadequate. He hasn’t exactly labored in obscurity – Tamino played several shows at SXSW in 2019. Although in my defense, the Belgian-Egyptian music scene is not super strong.
Tamino’s hypnotic vocals are unearthly. Cairo’s Nile FM (this is an actual radio station, at the evenly numbered MHz 104.2 FM) identifies him as the grandson of Egypt’s “legendary Muharram Fouad.” Last year he released the album Sahar but I want you to hear the song I just sampled, 2017’s “Habibi.”
You cannot NOT hear Jeff Buckley singing. I am dead.
I will absolutely be at the Utah Fairgrounds at 1:20pm to hear Tamino early in the Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup.
Osees
John Dwyer’s long time project Osees, aka Thee Oh Sees, have lived a dozen or more musical lives. From freakout to psych rock, I actually like his current thread which is closer to pure punk.
A Foul Form came out last August although I didn’t catch it then. This is pretty good! It’s on the tolerant side of the hardcore spectrum, which is about the sweet spot for a 50-something white guy like me.
Songs like the freaky surf of “Perm Act” and punk blasts of “Funeral Solution” and “Scum Show” could be a wild part of the Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup.
Indigo De Souza
North Carolina’s Indigo De Souza is all rough edges and blunt, confessional lyrics. De Souza has a great sense of dreary melody, a bit like Dana Margolin of Porridge Radio. De Souza just released All of This Will End two weeks ago and I enjoyed the several tracks I’ve downloaded.
The artist profile on Bandcamp quotes De Souza saying, “I was finally able to trust myself fully.” I don’t really know what that means but it sounds good!
On “You Can Be Mean” she disses on a Luva like Taylor Swift would, but with 100x more venom.
Caroline Polachek
I actually kind of liked parts of the song and video for Caroline Polachek’s “Welcome to my Island,” at least the images of her running through a construction site. (Hey that’s what Weyes Blood serving her coffee!) But its hard for me to take the former Chairlift singer too seriously, and I’m definitely not the target demographic.
Here’s “Welcome to My Island,” which I realize while listening and not watching, loses some interest without the construction video and throwing up blood or coffee.
Dreamer Isioma
Dreamer Isioma continues the suave Freak&B of 2021 debut Goodnight Dreamer on April’s Princess Forever.
Early single “Love & Rage” shows how Isioma deftly combines funk, Afrobeats and a rhythmic indie palette. Princess Forever is also a deep concept album – rarely a necessity – that envisions Isioma transcending an apocalyptic something-or-the-other in an alternate universe.
Best to focus on the Chicago native’s beats, as here on “Touch Your Soul.”
Wallice
Behold the sardonic, self-deprecating indie pop of Wallice!
Just a single EP under her belt, last year’s cutting 90’s American Superstar, Wallice grimly mocks her career trajectory on “Rich Wallice.” The LA artist absolutely shreds on “John Wayne” (actually I don’t know if that’s her on guitar!?) and on the imagined end of her career arc on the EP’s narrative closer “Funeral.”
After a couple of pandemic hits, Wallice Hana Watanabe spent part of the year opening for The 1975 and I can totally hear it. For Rolling Stone AU, Wallice describes hours of added music and dance rehearsals to prepare for her big break.
I dig the way she shifts from 2nd to 5th gear about 1 minute into the EP’s opening cut, “Little League.”
Grace Ives
Synth pop marvel Grace Ives is the author of last year’s Janky Star. Endlessly entertaining, Ives specializes in 2 minute pop gems that show off her breathy vibrato. Sometimes working in a dream pop space, other times breaking into a Cars twee power pop, Ives delivery always matches the material perfectly.
She soars on “Butterfly” from her 2019 debut 2nd.
Tanuchikan
You can hear the Cranberries influence on Tanukichan’s 2023 sophomore release GIZMO. I don’t know that the reference is good or bad, it’s just there. Particularly on songs like “Been Here Before” and “Take Care,” Hannah van Loon sounds like the late Dolores O’Riordan, minus the yodeling.
I appreciate Tanukichan’s crunchier dream pop to the poppier dream pop. Album opener “Escape” is more of a Lush soundscape.
Kipper Snack (Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup local feature)
Loving everything I’ve heard from Salt Lake City’s Kipper Snack, whose Insta says the band is half finished with “a real rock and roll album.” Last year Kipper released Pretty as a Flower, whose seven tracks look like an EP or mini album. Tracks fall somewhere between indie folk and high desert alt country.
Check out this impressive number, “Stick It With Me.”
Other standouts include “No Surprise” and “Mama.” Kipper is getting some well-deserved attention this year. Besides their opening slot for the Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup, they’ve played Soundwell, The Depot and Kilby Court. Kipper is a band to watch.
I’m also going to include a video. Readers of this site know I focus on audio. But I was so struck by the tenderness of this video shot during the pandemic. I hope whatever rock and roll Kipper releases soon includes this purity of spirit.
Also include the pedal steel, I want this young man to show off more pedal steel.
Kipper Snack at Studebaker Studios in Provo
Anais Chantal (Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup local feature)
Anais Chantal released Where Do I Go?? just a couple of months ago. Salt Lake’s Chantal drops between soul and torchlit piano ballads. This is difficult territory to stand out! Chantal has the voice to pull it off, although not all of the melodies here cut through for me.
The opener “CLASSIC” captures Chantal’s presence and range perfectly.
Hippo Campus
Bright indie pop not wildly removed from The Killers, the Minneapolis veterans have been around since 2013. Hippo Campus last month released the Wasteland EP, from which the fan favorite seems to be “Yippie Ki Yay.”
Kilby Block Party Saturday lineup: Other bands playing
I could have and maybe should have broken out The Moss and Josh Doss separately. Links provided for all.
HEADS UP NEW INFO!! Organizers have released set times for the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup. Listen to the bands’ songs — and plan your Friday wisely. Here are start times:
A few blink impressions of the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup:
My only real conflict Friday is Jean Dawson and NoSo. That’s a tough choice. It may come down to what I’m ready for at 2pm…do I need a warm up? Sample both artists below.
Ritt Momney is the only obvious tax writeoff. What did those guys do wrong to get lined up against Japanese Breakfast?! I’ve also included songs for Japanese Breakfast below.
We’re promised 90 minutes of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. That implies current hits and plenty of back catalogue. I guess you’ve got to give the kids what they want. Again, listen to the YYY below.
HEY HEY STOP! Are you looking for the **2024** LINEUP?!! Click here for band reviews!
Here’s my plan and personal recommendation for Friday.
Friday
1:35 Julie 2:15 Jean Dawson?But NoSo is SoGood 3:00 Honestly I may take a break here 4:05 Deerhoof 5:00 Cuco 6:10 Japanese Breakfast 7:30 Frankie Cosmos 8:30 YYY
That’s my plan. But I want to give you a lot to think about here. And listen to.
The Kilby Block Party Friday lineup blasts out of the gates with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Japanese Breakfast and Cuco. Have a listen to the headliners + some of the supporting acts that are opening an amazing weekend of music.
Kilby Block Party Friday lineup: The headliners
One of the two biggest names to play all weekend in the Kilby Block Party lineup are the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But they’re just a starting place in the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup. Read on to sample the YYY’s music but also some of the lesser-known bands playing on opening night!
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2022’s comeback kids exploded into relevance again with their single “Spitting Off the Side of the World” featuring Perfume Genius on album Cool It Down. The album appeared in many 2022 top 10 lists. Salt Lake City won’t be disappointed when they hear songs like “Fleez.”
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – with Karen O on vocals, Nick Zinner on guitar and keyboard, and Brian Chase on drums – are known for their early art school aesthetic and post-punk energy.
Their debut album, Fever to Tell (2003), features the breakout single, “Maps,” which remains one of their biggest hits. The band’s successive albums, including Show Your Bones (2006), It’s Blitz! (2009), and Mosquito (2013), showcase the YYY’s emerging electronica and garage rock sound.
I’m excited to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs play for the first time.
Japanese Breakfast
Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast are one of those acts that I enjoy on every level…lyrical, visual and brainy…all while delivering the hooks. I also succeeded in getting my daughter, 17 at the time, to listen to 2021’s Jubilee. I got her to pay attention to “Tactics” in the car one day, and she added it to her Spotify playlist. Father of the Year!
It’s wonderful how “Tactics” unfolds like a Paul Simon song — then the chorus blossoms into something aching and completely her own:
So I had to Move a great distance from you Cross a sea, keep you from me Move a great distance from you Cross a sea, keep you from me
Michelle Zauner’s bestselling book Crying in H Mart comes out in paperback today. The memoir recalls her isolated upbringing in Oregon as a Korean-American, drifting from her heritage as she grows older, reconnecting to her mother’s values upon her death.
One of my dearest friends in high school was Korean-American. I think of her sometimes listening to songs like “Paprika” and “Kokomo, IN” and wonder what has become of her.
Look at the day-by-day breakout of the Kilby Block Party right here
Bedroom pop guy, he’s the real deal, I hope you take time to hear him during the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup. I can remember the exact place and time I was falling in love with Cuco last year. I was re-seeding grass in my backyard, about to get on a plane for a college reunion, listening to the pure pop bliss of “Sweet Dissociation.”
Cuco’s multi-lingual album Fantasy Gateway didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved in 2022. So first, buy it from Cuco’s website. Then be there Friday for one of the late afternoon Kilby Block Party set times. Be there to hear Cuco’s magic brought to life!
Deerhoof
This week, the DeerhoofMiracle-Level album drops. The San Francisco post-punk legends are nearly 30 years and 19 albums into their career. The entirety of Miracle-Level is recorded in Satomi Matsuzaki’s native Japanese language.
The band previewed Miracle-Level last fall with “My Lovely Cat” and then in January with the spiky melody experimental pop number “Sit Down Let Me Tell You a Story.”
I don’t imbed many videos — this is a website for reading and listening. But the video from a performance of “Sit Down Let Me Tell You a Story” at Tokyo’s Ebisu Garden Hall is pretty awesome.
While I’ve listened to them over the years, I’m not going to pretend to be a Deerhoof expert. But they’ve earned their status as headliners, however they’re classified in the Kilby Block Party lineup.
Just because you haven’t heard of every band in the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup doesn’t mean you should skip straight to the familiar names. In fact, the buried lead for the Kilby Court concert…it’s that you have multiple, stellar bands playing in “supporting act” slots. It’s pretty remarkable, so read on-and listen.
Let’s have a look at a few standouts.
Kilby Block Party set times: Frankie Cosmos (7:30p)
I listened to quite a bit of Inner World by Frankie Cosmos last year.
The blithe indie pop is perfect for a Saturday afternoon. Many of the songs fronted by Greta Kline are light, economical, almost twee. They’re also not afraid to turn up their amps on the 90-second blast of “Magnetic Personality.”
More typical is Kline’s introspective pop like “Empty Head” and “After Shock.”
After releasing songs for four years, NoSo released their debut full-length with last year’s Stay Proud of Me. I have an Evernote (I’m such a dork) from August of last year marking “Parasites” as one of my favorite songs of the year.
Stay Proud of Me is replete with shimmering guitars, a little bit of Roxy Music cool and Abby Hwong’s low vibrato which can’t help but evoke Stevie Nicks. The album has so many good tracks–everything is good! For this post, I’ll stick with album-opener “Parasites.”
I’ve gone down a Jean Dawson wormhole today and all I can say is, “How did I miss him last year?”
Dawson’s third album Chaos Now defies category and description, a quality in music I adore. The Mexican-American’s fierce lyrics over the trip hop, power guitar and distorted riffs may overwhelm the block party Kilby Court is planning Friday night!
I’ve listened to about half of Chaos Now, including repeating “Positive One Negative One” about six times. Make sure your neighbors are gone and blow out the windows!
I am downloading Chaos Now before May. But kids these days, they don’t always make it easy. Dawson’s website is pretty cryptic and he has no presence on Bandcamp. You can download Chaos Now from some of the larger purveyors like iTunes and Amazon Prime.
Mark these words: Dawson will upend what you expect from most of the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup.
Kilby Block Party set times: The band Julie (1:35p)
LA’s experimental youngsters Julie may be another tasty surprise in the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup. The band interchanges noise and a punishing shoegaze with complex time changes. Think Sonic Youth at 20-years-old. Julie are Alex Brady on bass and vocals, Keyan Zand on guitar and vocals and Dillon Lee on drums.
Check out “lochness” from 2021’s Pushing Daisies. Julie rocks!
Until writing this paragraph, I had never heard the impeccable harmonies of Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, aka Lucius who are part of the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup.
I’m now officially interested to hear them play their fourth album, Second Nature, part Donna Summer, part ABBA. Lucius also isn’t afraid to produce a dancy Americana number that wouldn’t sound out of place on stage with Tay Tay.
Besides matching outfits and hair, the calling card for Laessig and Wolfe are their harmonies. Here they show off on “Dance Around It” with support from producer Brandi Carlile and guest Sheryl Crowe.
Momma have slightly loopy asymmetrical energy a bit like The Breeders. They released a full length, Household Name, last summer…and then the hopped-up “Bang Bang” on March 1. You can’t deny that hook!
Will Westerman from Athens, Greece, made a splash with his 2020 debut Your Hero is Not Dead. His sophomore release An Inbuilt Fault comes out in May, so we will see Westerman just as he returns with another album of minimalist folk. The taste here is “Petralona.”
Kilby Block Party set times: SLC’s The Plastic Cherries (12:20p)
I ran across a new friend on the Twitter earlier this year who helped me with the local music scene. I pledged to do a better job covering the 801 this year.
The Plastic Cherries would undoubtedly be among the bands he would recommend on Salt Lake’s Uphere! Records. They credit their influences as glam, soft 70’s and shoegaze. I don’t necessarily hear the gaze but I totally dig the soft rock and DIY sound.
Look for Salt Lake’s own Plastic Cherries with one of the earliest Kilby Block Party set times, the perhaps not enviable 12:20 open. Here is “Waking Up” from 2021’s full-length Sunshine. Dig it!
Kilby Block Party set times: SLC’s Homephone (12:55p)
Another home grown favorite, Salt Lake’s Homephone were busy in 2022 releasing multiple singles ahead of full-length Melon Collie. Ysabelle Stepp and Joseph Sandholtz 70’s-infused dream pop include touching lyrics on songs like “Pistachio.”
People only kiss When their eyes are closed If they opened up What would happen, I don’t know
Berlin’s Alice Phoebe Lou sings about getting sex, having sex and making booty calls for sex.
Her songs aren’t explicit per se but…I guess…sex positive. She released her fourth album, Child’s Play, with little fanfare at the end of 2021. Since then, Alice has released just one song, “Shelter,” earlier this month.
The tracks on Child’s Play are sweet, if feckless. Here is 2021’s “Care.”
Even more bands from the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup
Okay we’ve profiled and listened to most but not all of the bands with Friday Kilby Block Party set times. God willing, and depending on the interest (share this with your friends!) I’ll offer similar rundowns for Saturday and Sunday, so keep checking back.
Here are the remaining Friday bands you’ll see at the Utah Fairgrounds on Friday, May 12:
I hope you get to see the Kilby Court Cuco show opening the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup. He’s so good, I could have included him in my 2022 Top 20 albums. Here’s what you need to know about the bedroom pop singer Cuco + a couple of songs from 2022’s entrancing Fantasy Gateway.
Kilby Court Cuco concert a nice start to Kilby Block Party Friday lineup
The singer Cuco — he uses the handle cucopuffs on the Insta — got his pet name from his mother while growing up in Hawthorne, California. Omar Banos has written lyrics both in English and Spanish since his early releases, Wannabewithu (2016) and Songs4u (2017) as a budding songwriter and Spotify phenom. His bedroom pop full length debut was 2019’s Para Mi.
By 2022, Banos was incorporating more elaborate orchestration on Fantasy Gateway as he felt his way into new territory. You can hear why the Kilby Court Cuco appearance came together. I’m not posturing — this was a favorite album of mine last year.
The intimate “Time Machine” has such a pure singer-songwriter inside that you can’t help but fall in love with the kid.
Sing along Kilby Court Cuco show in Spanish. Singer Cuco is bilingual pop star
One of the reasons I was taken aback by Fantasy Gateway was the sophisticated lyricism you’ll hear at the Kilby Court Cuco show. Sure there are the ridic catchy samples and chorus on last April’s “Caution” … then he steps into a mix of English and Spanish on the smooth R&B-via-soft 70’s “Aura.”
Here is the Spanish verse:
Ves que me causan celos cuando te habla alguien más Nunca te quiero lejos, la distancia me hace mal Eres siempre el tema del que quiero platicar Hechamos fiesta solos, nos ponemos a bailar
…in which the singer Cuco is singing:
You see that they make me jealous when someone else talks to you I never want you away, the distance hurts me You are always the topic I want to talk about We party alone, we start to dance
I expect most of the Kilby Court Cuco show at the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup will be in English. But Utah has plenty of Spanish speakers and returned missionaries to go cukoo for cocoa puffs. I’m looking forward to hearing fully Spanish numbers from the singer Cuco, like the gorgeous “Fin Del Mundo” (“End of the World”).
Be at the Kilby Court Cuco concert. You’ll go cukoo for cocoa puffs
Final note, whether you’re a 19-year-old kid reading this on the Insta or a jaded 50-something like me listening to bedroom pop singer Cuco for the first time…get to the Kilby Block Party on Friday. I recommend Fantasy Gateway without reservation and can’t wait to see him kickstart the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup!
FRIDAY: Japanese Breakfast, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Cuco… SATURDAY: Run the Jewels, Weyes Blood and Alex G… SUNDAY: The Walkmen, Parquet Courts and what I predict will be a legendary show by Pavement.
Oh also on Sunday, The Pixies, whatever that means anymore.
If you’re wondering what day to spend your hard-earned rock and roll dollar, this may help. No times but generally your marquee acts will play later in the day.
The Kilby Block Party Friday (May 12)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Japanese Breakfast
Cuco
Deerhoof
Also on Friday: Dominic Fike, Remi Wolf, Lucius, Ritt Momney, Frankie Cosmos, Jean Dawson, Alice Phoebe Lou, Westerman, Julie, Momma, NoSo, Miya Folick, The Plastic Cherries, Homephone, Sunhills
Read about LISTEN TO every Friday band in the Kilby Block Party Friday lineup right here
So, good news right now, the only sold out tickets are 3-day Super VIP and Saturday Super VIP. Standard 3-day VIP tickets and 1-day VIP tickets for Friday and Sunday are still out there. Honestly, I’m not sure why I did the Super deal, the standard 3-day VIP tickets include premium viewing areas, re-entry, some kind of access to an overpriced bar, etc. Still a good investment.
Standard VIP for 3 days is $299. General admission for 3 days is $209. Spend the extra $90 believe me. All available right here.
Kilby Block Party SLC parking
It’s not great.
Apparently you can reserve parking during ticket checkout, which I didn’t do. Now that I’ve bought my tickets, I don’t see a way to go back and just pay for parking separately from my ticket purchase.
UPDATE: I found a link for official Kilby parking here. The information was actually included in the fine print of my original e-mail ticket receipt, so I herewith absolve Kilby organizers of parking neglect.
You’re probably going to end up spending $20 or $30 a day on the private lots. You can also take your chances leaving your car at the abandoned Wienerschnitzel and buy a side of Fentanyl on your way in. Or you can park downtown and ride in on Trax.
Lockers serve as a meet up location and storage for merch and approved bags you don’t want to carry all day. Importantly, the locker is also a charging station for your phone after all those pointless, long-range shots over the really tall bros standing in front of you.
The lockers are $20 a day and you clean out your stuff before leaving like a Planet Fitness. For $60, you get a locker for three days and you can leave your leftover gyro in there until Sunday.
Daily schedule for Kilby Block Party 2023 lineup
I hope these lineup and ticket updates are useful. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be posting profiles of some of the artists where you can read and hear their songs before they appear.
Have a question or comment about the Kilby Block Party 2023 lineup or logistics? Email me at the address in the About section of the Zerovu website. You can also subscribe for e-mail alerts below.
May will be here before we know it!
These are three of my favorite headliners at KBP4…what are yours?!
