The Great Saltair

On a work trip out to Utah, I noticed that at the Avalon Theater Ben Lee, John Ralston, and Rooney were playing on a Friday night, so I decided to get a ticket. All I knew about these acts ahead of time were:
1. Ben Lee used to date Claire Danes.
2. Rooney’s album seemed to be everywhere a few years ago but I knew nothing about their music.
3. Robert Carmine, Rooney’s lead singer, is Jason Schwartzman’s brother/Talia Shire’s son/Sophia Coppola’s cousin, etc. etc.
I said to a friend that I was thinking about getting a ticket to this show and the conversation went something like this, “Yeah, that lead singer of Rooney is hot, but I don’t know anything about their music”.

By the time I purchased my ticket, Under The Influence of Giants had been added to the bill. About a month ago, K had asked me if I had heard their single Mama’s Room. She liked it. It sounded retro, kind of like the Bee Gees.

So I buy my ticket for the show and the following warning comes up, which I have never seen so explicitly stated during a ticket purchase.


General Information:

THIS SHOW IS GENERAL ADMISSION/NO SEATS/STANDING ROOM ONLY. NO REFUNDS/NO EXCHANGES UNLESS THE HEADLINING BAND CANCELS.

NON PERMITTED ITEMS:
Illegal and Prescription Drugs
Pro/Digital Cameras
Audio Recording Devices
Laser Pointers
Weapons Of Any Sort
Chains
Spikes
Fireworks
Glass
Bottles
Cans
Backpacks
Large Bags Or Containers

Well, I normally don’t wear chains and spikes but all of the sudden, I was wanting to. But the no illegal drugs is what had K and I laughing. Isn’t the fact that their illegal make it unnecessary to put on the list?

Two days before the show, I check the website and the show has been moved to a different venue. The show is now planned at a place called The Great Saltair on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Magna, Utah. Thursday night I am sitting in my hotel room, watching the ABC Thursday night lineup and surfing the net when in between commercials, the local news says something like “Man holds police at bay with a high-powered rifle as others enjoy concert at the Great Saltair”. What? There was a concert Thursday night, with Rise Against and Thursday playing. I’m thinking, should I go tomorrow night, but what’s the chance of the same guy holding me hostage the next night? Lightning usually doesn’t strike twice now does it? Well, when I watched the broadcast later, it wasn’t as bad for the concertgoers as the news made it seem originally. The broadcaster said that a man had called the police and stated that he had a gun and he was in a trolley out by the Great Salt Lake. There is a trolley right next to where the concert was taking place but it turns out, he was at another abandoned train car further away.

Okay, so I finally get to The Great Saltair. I leave my coat in the car even though it is pretty cold outside because I don’t want to deal with it. The building looks semi-grand from the outside, and when you get inside there is this ornate staircase that leads up to the Saltlick, the “private club” where you can drink. I decide not to go up there since I am not drinking this particular night. I stay down on the main floor which has no heat and is pretty run down and looks like it’s under construction.

I was wondering if the crowd would be more wholesome than other concert crowds and it does seem that way. No one is smoking and while there are about 250 people in the place, it looks like only about 20-25 are upstairs drinking. I’ve never been to a show alone and I find that I can’t help listening to the conversations around me. There are two college-age guys standing behind me and the conversation goes from being scared of life after college to one of them saying that they want to be married by the time they go to law school because he imagines law school would be hard being single. What? Guys don’t WANT to get married. Yes, this is a different kind of crowd. One of the two guys is totally psyched to see Under the Influence of Giants because they have seen them before. Okay, now I’m not psyched to see UTIOG because they are and five minutes ago they were slamming Queen.

John Ralston comes on stage and as he and the band strike the opening chords, a sound so loud (feedback?) blasts so loudly from the speakers that everyone is putting their fingers in their ears. He tries again and the sound is deafening. He drops his guitar and walks off stage and that’s all we see of him all night. As the technical folks come onstage working on the issue, I wince every time someone gets close to a microphone afraid of the noise.

The stage is set for Under The Influence of Giants. They come on stage and make up for the wait. Unexpectedly, I love their set. They have tons of energy and the music is fun and a real mixture of things. I was all set for more of a disco sound because of what I knew of them (Mama’s Room). There’s definitely the Nile Rogers disco guitar mixed in and some Bee Gees harmonies but other stuff as well. The bassist was the most fun of the whole show. Let me describe his outfit. He had on 70’s white pants with slit side pockets and tennis shoes, fingerless black winter gloves, a navy and orange Adidas warm-up jacket zipped all the way up, a white athletic headband, and mirrored sunglasses. He has shaggy hair and a full beard and he looked like Brian Wilson in his scruffy stage. He was full of energy, headbanging like he was a member of Motorhead. For most of the show the bottom half of his body was doing jumping jacks. The crowd loved him. The whole band made a real connection with the audience.

As for Rooney, all of the girls moved front and center when they came on stage. The guys that had been front and center for UTIOG were now gone or somewhere else in the venue. They sounded good but I guess they’re just not my thing. The lead singer kept saying “Silence is not welcome here” and trying to get the applause meter kicked up and the audience responded. I stuck around for the end of their set and then left before Ben Lee took the stage. --J