Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real at Sandy Amphitheater

 
I am a huge fan of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real!  I have seen them at USANA (backing Neil Young), at the Commonwealth Room, at Red Butte Garden, and at Sandy Amphitheater.  Last night I went back to Sandy Amphitheater to see them again and I absolutely loved the show!  They were in town promoting their latest release Sticks and Stones (it is so good) and the majority of the songs in their main set came from this album.  They started the show with "Alcohallelujah" and continued with the title track, "Every Time I Drink," "If I Didn't Love You," "Overpass," "Icarus,""All Four Winds" (my favorite from the new album), "The View," "Lying," "Wrong House," and "Ladder of Love."  I really enjoyed hearing these new songs performed live because Nelson and the band looked like they were having such a great time playing them and they sounded really tight despite the fact that they haven't played them as much as the older songs.  However, I was thrilled to hear so many of my favorites, including "Fool Me Once," "Four Letter Word," "Just Outside of Austin" (with a really cool piano intro), "Carolina," "(Forget About) Georgia," "Die Alone," and "Find Yourself" (with lots of participation from the crowd during the chorus).  They also sang a cover of Willie Nelson's "Bloody Mary Morning" which was awesome!  I was really hoping that they would play "Set Me Down on a Cloud," which is my favorite Promise of the Real song, so I was absolutely thrilled when I heard the opening notes!  It was the perfect song to end their main set with!  For the encore, they performed a rousing rendition of "Something Real" with an extended intro featuring the drums.  I am not a big fan of country music but I absolutely love this band (they do have more of a rock-country sound) and I love Nelson's voice (he sounds like his dad Willie Nelson but a bit edgier).  Nelson wasn't as talkative as I have seen him be but he and the band gave a really energetic performance with very little down time between the songs.  They had a stripped down stage filled with lots of instruments and, since I was sitting on the fifth row (he definitely made eye contact with me), it was fascinating to watch Nelson playing the guitar.  There was a major thunderstorm near the end of the show but even the rain couldn't dampen my enthusiasm (the rain stopped just before "Set Me Down on a Cloud" which made me very happy).  I had so much fun and I hope they come back again next year!

Note:  I have loved every Promise of the Real concert but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the show at the Commonwealth Room.  This was right after the movie A Star Is Born came out (Promise of the Real portrayed Jackson Maine's band) and they played "Shallow."  It was sans Lady Gaga but it was epic!

Jackson Browne at Sandy Amphitheater

I saw Jackson Browne open for James Taylor last year and, even though I only really knew "Somebody's Baby," "Doctor My Eyes," and "Running on Empty," I enjoyed his set so much that I decided to get a ticket to see his headlining show last night at Sandy Amphitheater.  I loved this concert and it was the perfect way to end the summer!  Of course he played all three of the aforementioned songs (he began with "Somebody's Baby" and ended with "Running on Empty") but I actually liked every other song he sang, too.  My favorites from his main set were "The Long Way Around," "Downhill From Everywhere," "In the Shape of a Heart," "Until Justice is Real," and "The Pretender" (which I recognized from his earlier concert because he performed it with James Taylor).  For the encore he sang "Take It Easy" which is an Eagles song but he wrote it with Glenn Frey.  He told us that he didn't like to perform it when he was younger because reviewers always called it an Eagles cover but now he doesn't care and performs it any way!  I'm glad he changed his mind because it was amazing (the audience sang every word).  Browne alternated between playing the guitar and playing the piano (he had a great band backing him) and he was incredibly funny and charismatic!  People kept shouting out names of songs they wanted him to play and his responses were hilarious.  When he started to play a song that had been requested frequently he stopped and shrugged his shoulders when the response was a bit tepid before starting again to massive cheers and applause and he told the crowd to settle down when another song was frequently requested because he would get to it later!  It was a really mellow concert and I enjoyed listening to music performed live under the stars for the last time this season (I also enjoyed the cooler temperature).

Imagine at Sandy Amphitheater

I had so much fun last night because I got to see Imagine, a fantastic Beatles cover band, at Sandy Amphitheater.  At this show they styled themselves as Imagine + because they performed with an orchestra and it was amazing!  I loved every minute of it!  Imagine consists of Tom Coburn as John Lennon, Bryan Hague as Paul McCartney, Brad Armstrong as George Harrison, and Mark Robinette as Ringo Starr and they look and sound a lot like the Fab Four complete with the mop-top haircuts and Liverpudlian accents.  During their first set they wore the black suits and Cuban-heeled boots the Beatles wore on the Ed Sullivan Show and performed "I Saw Her Standing There," "All My Loving," "Please Please Me," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I'll Follow The Sun," "A Hard Day's Night," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "And I Love Her" (one of my favorite Beatles songs), "Help," "Yesterday," "Drive My Car," "Eleanor Rigby," "She Loves You," and "Something in the Way."  I loved all of the witty banter in between all of the songs!  After the intermission, they returned to the stage wearing the iconic Sgt. Pepper's uniforms and started this set, of course, with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "With a Little Help From My Friends."  They continued with "Here Comes the Sun," "I Am the Walrus," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "Yellow Submarine," "Penny Lane," "Come Together," "Get Back," "Day in the Life" (which was my favorite performance of the evening), and "Got to Get You Into My Life."  I was hoping that they would play "Hey Jude" and they did during the encore (including the requisite audience participation during the extended chorus which made me positively giddy) followed by a rousing rendition of "Lady Madonna."  I really love the Beatles and I would give anything to have been able to see them in concert (alas, I was born too late) but cover bands like Imagine let me at least pretend that I am at a Beatles concert.  It was a great show and the temperature was actually really pleasant (my last concert at Sandy Amphitheater was so hot) so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  There are a few summer concerts at Sandy Amphitheater left (go here for tickets) and I recommend listening to some great music under the stars.

Note:  I have one more outdoor concert at Sandy Amphitheater and one at USANA left this summer!

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real at Sandy Amphitheater

I was first introduced to Promise of the Real when they backed Neil Young several years ago.  I really love their rock-country sound so I try to see them whenever they make a stop in SLC.  Last night they were at Sandy Amphitheater and it was a fantastic concert (I've been looking forward to it all summer).  I love Lukas Nelson's voice (he sounds a lot like his dad Willie Nelson but a bit sultrier) and I think he is a great frontman because he is so energetic.  He wasn't as talkative as he usually is but I was sitting really close to the stage on the second row so it was really exciting to watch him play the guitar.  They played "Sticks and Stones," "Four Letter Word," "Every Time He Drinks He Thinks of Her" (a Willie Nelson song), "Fool Me Once," "Just Outside of Austin," "Leave 'em Behind," "(Forget About) Georgia," "Simple Life," "Carolina," "Die Alone," "Find Yourself" (which included some audience participation), "Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)," "More Than We Can Handle," and "I'm Giving You Away."  Then the band left the stage and Nelson performed an acoustic version of "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" which, as he told the crowd, is his favorite song by his dad.  Then he moved to the piano for a very heart-felt version of "Smile."  The band returned for "Start to Go" and then ended their set, just like they did last year at Red Butte Garden, with a rousing rendition of "Something Real."  One of my very favorite songs from Promise of the Real is "Set Me Down on a Cloud."  I really love it and listen to it all the time but I had never heard it performed live (I was quite disappointed not to hear it the first time I saw the band).  I was absolutely thrilled when I heard the opening notes during the encore (I may or may not have screamed during the guitar solo).  I love outdoor concerts and, even though it was so hot, I really enjoyed myself!

Note:  The Sandy Amphitheater is a great venue for concerts and there are still quite a few more on the schedule this summer (I have tickets to two more).  Go here for more information and tickets.

The Magic of Queen at Sandy Amphitheater

Last summer I really missed seeing outdoor performances (I wonder if I have mentioned that?) so this summer I made a list of all of my favorite outdoor performance venues and I have been trying to get to all of them (it looks like I will be able to check off most of them before the summer is over).  A few weeks ago I realized that I didn't include the Sandy Amphitheater (which is a great venue) so I decided to look at the website and see if there was a show that I might like.  I got very excited when I saw a show called The Magic of Queen (I wonder if I have mentioned that I really love Queen?) and I got even more excited when I saw that there were still good tickets available (it eventually sold out).  The show was last night and the weather could not have been better for an outdoor show!  Most of the summer has been unbearably hot and this week there has been a lot of rain but last night was nice and cool.  This was the first concert I have been to since I saw Sarah McLachlan at the Eccles Theatre in February of 2020 and I loved feeling the energy from such a large and enthusiastic crowd!  The Magic of Queen is a show featuring Brody Dolyniuk and his band performing the music of Queen (he also does shows performing the music of Led Zeppelin and Elton John).  He sounds like Freddie Mercury but he doesn't try to imitate him and I really enjoyed his versions of the classic songs.  The first half of the show included "One Vision," "Tie Your Mother Down," "Play the Game," "Keep Yourself Alive," "You're My Best Friend," "Killer Queen," "Now I'm Here," "Somebody to Love," and "Under Pressure."  After the intermission, they played a beautiful rendition of "Love of My Life" and then the crowd came to life during "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Fat Bottomed Girls."  Next came "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Radio Ga Ga" (complete with clapping).  Dolyniuk introduced the next song by saying that it was the title of a recent movie about a rock star and then started playing "Rocket Man," which got a huge laugh from the crowd.  Then they performed a stirring version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" which is the song I had been waiting all night for!  It did not disappoint!  The concert concluded, as Queen concerts often do, with "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions." I had so much fun at this concert and I am so glad that I suddenly remembered to add Sandy Amphitheater to my list!  Go here for the remaining shows this summer.

Amy Grant at the Sandy Amphitheater

It may surprise some of you to learn that for a time in my early twenties I was really, really into Christian rock.  One of my roommates when I was a counselor at a summer camp in college played Christian music all of the time and I gradually came to love it, especially Amy Grant!  I think I listened to her album The Collection non-stop for almost a year and I particularly loved the song "Everywhere I Go" because it made me feel like God was always with me no matter what I was doing or what I believed.  I still feel the same way about that song to this day.  When Amy Grant gained more mainstream popularity, everyone in my family became fans and we have seen her in concert together several times, including a concert at Abravanel Hall that was amazing!  My Mom, my sister Marilyn, and I were able to see her again at the Sandy Amphitheater last night and we enjoyed it so much!  Luckily she played "Everywhere I Go" early on in the show and it was such a wonderful experience to hear it live!  She played for almost 90 minutes straight and included a really nice selection of her hits: "Find A Way," "Big Yellow Taxi," "Saved By Love," "Takes A Little Time," "That's What Love Is For," "Baby Baby," "Lucky One," "Every Heartbeat," "Our Time Is Now," "House of Love," and "Better Than a Hallelujah."  In the middle of her set she played acoustic versions of "El-Shaddai" and "Thy Word" which were absolutely lovely.  She closed the concert with covers of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds and "Put a Little Love In Your Heart" which got the audience up and dancing.  For the encore she sang a touching version of "I Will Remember You."  She was so down to earth and told lots of anecdotes between every song.  She was really excited for the full moon and told the audience to let her know when it came up from behind the mountains.  She was ecstatic when the crowd pointed it out to her and told us that we should all take a moment to appreciate it!  I love her!  Marilyn and I sang just about every word (we also sang her songs at the top of our lungs on the drive home) and my Mom had a huge smile on her face through the whole show.  It was a perfect summer night and a wonderful concert!