By SoDak
Issues at Venues.
In general, attending a concert at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre (note the stupid naming rights) is not a pleasant experience. The shows are too expensive. The video screens bombard attendees with ridiculous ads (trucks, beer, canned water, whatever). A specific grievance this year, as far as this venue, is that the sound for Joan Jett was exceptionally poor. The band and her voice were barely audible. As a result, there was no power, no punch, to any of the songs. We did not feel the music. Instead, we watched a band go through the motions. The song selection was good, but the experience sucked.
Granary Live is a newish outdoor venue in Salt Lake City. It seems to have potential of being a decent place to see music. I am not sure if the issue that I note here characterizes other shows at the venue, or if it was just the night I was there. The transition between bands was over an hour each time. There was minimal gear to remove and set up. Perhaps the wasted time was due to the bands, or the venue wanting to sell more overpriced beer. Waiting so long to see/hear a band sours the evening.
Dipshits at shows seem to be a given. This includes bros in baseball caps ruining the show (see https://tickleyourtaint.blogspot.com/2025/11/bros-in-baseball-caps.html), assholes throwing their beer cups and cans at people, and folks loudly talking on their phones.
Windmill and Side-to-Side Dancing at Hardcore Shows.
I love energetic crowds and many forms of dancing at shows, but I find windmill and side-to-side dancing at hardcore shows frustrating and discouraging. In small venues, a handful of people occupy almost the entire space. Most of the folks are squeezed against the walls, having to watch the few folks dancing to avoid being hit by windmill kicks and flaying arms. The few folks, doing side-to-side, seem to think they are participating in whatever dumb fucking WWE match, treating the majority of folks in the crowd as they are the ropes in the ring. I am often told that all of this is controlled and is supposed to avoid hitting others, but the crowdkilling element of intentionally targeting folks in the margins seems to be ever present. Recently, I was unfortunate enough to see the Sissy Boys play on a bill. Following their performance, the guitar player relished going side-to-side, throwing punches and kicks into many of the folks standing on the edges. Like the Pit Boss, who shows up at many of the Salt Lake City Hardcore shows, he was very pleased with himself for dishing out pain to others.
Poor Quality Shirts.
Over the last few years, there has been shift in the quality of rock shirts. Some record labels, distributors, and a few bands are selling poor quality shirts. The images on the shirts seem to be plastic transfers, which peel and melt. Even the Nomeansno shirts that I bought from Alternative Tentacles this year were shitty.
Bad Punk Rock Documentaries.
I am generally interested in watching punk rock documentaries, especially the ones that focus on specific scenes. I do not expect the quality of the film to be outstanding, given old footage and small budgets. Unfortunately, some of the scene documentaries lack a strong story, focus on and celebrate folks being assholes, or lack interesting material. Like the Bones of Brundage (2018), I found Everything Is A OK: A Dallas Punk Documentary (2020) and Dope, Hookers and Pavement: The Real and Imagined History of Detroit Hardcore (2021) to be uninteresting and disappointing.
Bruce Springsteen, Tracks II: The Lost Albums boxset.
The music within this boxset is exceptional. The grievance is related to the very hefty price of the boxset, the wasteful packaging, and not including the song “Streets of Philadelphia” on the record Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, as the song was recorded then and would fit perfectly on this record.
Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Who Believes in Angels? (2025).
I am very surprised that this record has received strong reviews. My wife and I listened to this record a couple times while traveling. She kept saying that the songs suck and the record was a piece of shit. She is not wrong. It is stunning how uninspired and uninteresting the songs are.
Painful performances.
I saw many exceptional shows this year, but there were a few stinkers: John Grant, Bayway, and Sissy Boys.
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