Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Rush, Cracker, Adam Stephens, Allen Toussaint, The Watson Twins, We Are Scientists
Live: Music Picks Aug. 5-11
By Dan Nailen
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Take a bunch of soul and funk revivalists, front them with a blazing 54-year-old lead singer who once was a corrections officer at Rikers Island prison, and you have one of the best stories in modern popular music. You also have the makings of a mean dance party when Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings take the stage and tear a page out of the soul playbook designed by folks like James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Since forming a decade ago, Jones & The Dap Kings have spearheaded a renewed appreciation of old-school soul, using analog recording equipment to keep their albums sounding “authentic,” and delivering searing live shows that leave audiences with little question how “real” their soul is. To the surprise of some, this could turn out to be the best show of the Twilight Concert Series this summer. Jamie Lidell opens the show. Pioneer Park, 350 S. 300 West, 7 p.m. Free
Rush
Between Anvil: The Story of Anvil and this year’s Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Canada suddenly is the go-to country for must-see rock documentaries. And while Anvil successfully introduced an inspiring band of relative unknowns, the Rush documentary had the tougher task of uncovering some entertaining nuggets about the massively successful, if relatively secretive, prog-rock trio. And we found out Rush, like Anvil, is built on lifelong friendships more than any master plan for world domination. This “Time Machine Tour” presents Rush playing its 1981 Moving Pictures album in its entirety, as well as some new material from the band’s upcoming 20th album, Clockwork Angels. Usana Amphitheatre, 5150 S. 6055 West, West Valley City, 7:30 p.m., $32.50-$125
Saturday Aug. 7
Cracker
For some fans, Cracker will always be David Lowery’s “other” band, the one he only started after the demise of his pioneering ska-punk-surf polyglot crew, Camper Van Beethoven. But Lowery’s run with twang-rockers Cracker (and his longtime partner in the band, Johnny Hickman) is now at 20 years of virtually nonstop activity, including a 2009 album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, that got rave reviews and landed Cracker on the album-sales chart for the first time in more than a decade. With 10 albums of material to draw on, Cracker is a fine choice for The Canyons’ free Saturday-night concert series, and the fact you can pack a cooler of your adult beverage of choice makes it all the more appealing. The Canyons, 4800 The Canyons Resort Drive, Park City, 6 p.m., Free
Adam Stephens
Adam Stephens is half of the mesmerizing Two Gallants, and he’s starting his first solo jaunt, in support of his first solo album, right here in Salt Lake City. His solo debut, We Live On Cliffs, doesn’t arrive until the end of September, but expect a heavy dose of the new tunes along with some old favorites when Stephens and his four-piece band drop in. The Young Yet Brilliant Sleuths and Matt Ben Jackson open the show. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7 p.m., $10
Sunday Aug. 8
Allen Toussaint
If you’re an important godfather of the New Orleans R&B scene, that means you’re an artist of truly global influence. Such is the importance of the Crescent City to all manner of popular music, from rock to soul, funk to R&B. Allen Toussaint has been performing, producing and penning songs in New Orleans for more than half a century, and his songs like “Working in a Coalmine” and “Fortune Teller” have been recorded by a who’s who of legends: The Meters, Rolling Stones, The Who, Otis Redding, Solomon Burke and Warren Zevon among them. When his house was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, he moved to New York City, started playing weekly shows and eventually recorded a Grammy-nominated album of new material with Elvis Costello called The River In Reverse. Last year, he released another, The Bright Mississippi, and this summer he’s leading a Bayou bash in Salt Lake City that also includes the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, 7 p.m., $40 adults/$25 children
Tuesday Aug. 10
The Watson Twins
The country-soul bona fides of sisters Leigh and Chandra Watson were revealed to hipster nation on their excellent collaboration with Jenny Lewis on the 2006 album Rabbit Fur Coat, and they’ve only solidified their position as rootsy revivalists on their own projects since. But The Watson Twins’ latest, Talking to You, Talking to Me, adds some flourishes of bossa nova and R&B to their country base, marking them as artistically unsatisfied with simply working the retro-cool route. The State Room, 638 S. State, 8 p.m., $15 adv./$18 day of
We Are Scientists
I have a theory that songs named after women’s first names generally suck. Yes, there are exceptions (Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Beach Boys “Barbara Ann” come to mind), but I bet I can find 10 that suck for every good one. On their new album, We Are Scientists test my theory by slapping a lady’s name on the entire collection. Barbara is not a massive departure from the band’s breakthrough from a few years back, With Love & Squalor; leaders Keith Murray and Chris Cain continue to write infectious, often bombastic tunes, and now they’re accompanied by a new drummer, Andy Burrows. Rewards and Sunset open the show. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7 p.m., $12
Coming Up
Chatham County Line (Aug. 12, The State Room), Matisyahu (Aug. 12, Pioneer Park), Primus, Gogol Bordello (Aug. 13, The Rail), Jack Johnson (Aug. 13, Usana Amphitheatre), Deftones (Aug. 14, The Rail), Nathaniel Rateliff (Aug. 14, Kilby Court), The Swell Season (Aug. 15, Red Butte Garden), Yonder Mountain String Band (Aug. 15, The Depot), Andre Williams (Aug. 16, The Urban Lounge) John Hiatt (Aug. 16, The State Room), Scorpions (Aug. 16, Usana Amphitheatre), Bob Dylan (Aug. 17, Deer Valley), Dave Matthews Band (Aug. 17, Usana Amphitheatre)%uFFFD
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