Do you remember that feeling of excitement that you had on Christmas morning? Waking up at like 2:00 a.m. and asking your parents if it was time to open presents only to be denied, prompting you to repeat this scenario every 30 minutes until they finally gave in. Well that’s pretty much the exact feeling I had waiting for Young Widows to show up to Kilby Court. Since discovering the band a couple of years ago I had been patiently waiting for my chance to open my dark, dissonant, and loud Summertime-Christmas gift which is Young Widows’ insanely-great live show! The fact that I had interviewed the band just days before the show amped my excitement even more!
To my surprise, Young Widows had booked the show at Kilby Court, a great little all ages venue that basically consists of a garage with a sound system in it. A true staple in the Salt Lake music community. Luckily, it’s a great sounding garage as well and if you play your cards right, it’s super easy to position yourself right in front of the stage for maximum viewing experience. Kilby Court doesn’t have any air conditioning, so in the summertime shows at the venue are absolutely sweltering hot, especially once the crowd packs in and the bands start playing. I’m talking like crazy hot.
Once Kilby Court had hit it’s maximum temperature for the evening Young Widows sauntered on stage all dressed in black, then immediately cut all the lights in the venue and began an extended intro to “Godman,” the opening track off their latest album Easy Pain. Now I have seen bands use the “lights-out trick” at the beginning of their shows before, but usually there is a small lamp on or something like that so everyone can see what they are doing on stage. Not Young Widows, when I say that the place was dark, I mean it was pitch black! There wasn’t one single light on. You could have mugged someone one in the crowd and just moved to a different area after the offense and no one would have had any idea. Then all of sudden like a glorious golden angel of the apocalypse Young Widows kicked into the body of the song and I knew that this Christmas gift showcase was going to be something I would never forget.
Seriously look how dark it is.
The band swung into one song after the other, keeping the mood distorted and loud. After about three songs Evan Patterson (guitar / voclas) finally addressed the crowd with few pleasantries then asked the us if we had any requests. Requests?! Really?! I have never once been to a show where the band asked the crowd what they wanted to hear and then actually played what was requested! Luckily no one yelled out “Freebird,” the songs requested were “Took a Turn” and “Old Skin”. I was super stoked that everyone wanted to hear “Old Skin”, that is definitely one of my favorite Young Widows songs (I’m mentioning this one last time in case you have never read any of my Young Widows posts before. I bring my love for the song every time, because it is that great!).
Young Widows didn’t let the intensity drop for one second during their hour and 15 minute performance. The guitar was a super beast, the bass totally pounded, and the drums were like a bulldozer to the ears! I’ve seen some loud bands in my days, but Young Widows may have been the loudest band I have heard in some time. The sheer, wall of noise coupled with the extreme heat put me in some strange claustrophobic euphoria, where I almost felt like I was going to pass out from the amount of awesomeness that was surrounding me. I felt like that the majority of the performance until the band broke out my favorite song off of Easy Pain “Doomed Moon.” The reason I dig this song so much is the crazy guitar intro that starts the song off and it was a treat to see all the intricate pedal work that Patterson used to pull it off. So with with my favorite old school and new school songs played the night was a true success. All the Christmas morning hype I had built up for Young Widows had come to fruition. There’s nothing like having a second Christmas in June. If you get the chance, you need to catch Young Widows live. When you do, prepare yourself, and try not to pass out from the awesomeness presented in this deafening, life altering gift.
Remaining Tour Dates:
07/03 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
07/04 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory
07/05 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird