One of the cooler spots to check out live music in Salt Lake City is The DLC, a small-capacity live music venue situated inside Quarters Arcade Bar downtown in the heart of SLC’s nascent live music corridor. The room is intimate, cool and you can battle your homie at Mortal Kombat after the show. This Saturday, June 20 the venue is hosting their first ever Pogo Fest to highlight the great psych-rock and similar acts the venue is booking. Aside from The DLC the area includes venues; International Artists Bar, and SLC Pub . Those locations along with a an outdoor stage at Exchange Place will serve as the four stages for Pogo Fest which is highlighting psych-rock and psych adjacent acts from Salt Lake City for the most part. We picked out five bands to see from the 20-plus artists line-up for SLC concertgoers. The mini-fest is an ideal way for local fans to get to know some of the better up and coming acts playing the growing Salt Lake music scene. Advance tickets are available via 24 Tix.
Boyfriend Sushi Town – Exchange Place Stage – 8p
This jangly psych-folk act has the right blend of post-punk and folk-rock along with a dose of dream-pop with unconventional instrumentation to make Boyfriend Sushi Town intriguing enough for both casual and hardcore music fans to investigate further. The group has been booked for Kilby Block Party previously. With four studio albums under their belt, the group seems poised to make the jump from beloved local act to larger stages. Moses Coker sings vocals and plays guitar along with Ethan Guetier (violin), Brandon Cocard (bass) and Harry Hagan (drums). Check out the band’s latest full-length, Dogwood.
Fiig – The DLC- 8:15p
There’s nothing better than discovering a band you didn’t already know about because they were on the bill with an act you were already familiar with. Thus was the case with Fiig who were on the bill at DLC with Dead Meadow several weeks ago. We can always count on DLC’s talent buyer, Nate McQuivey to book the type of artists we’re into. Fiig stood that theory up solidly with a heavy and pleasing psych rock performance that made us sit up and take notice. Then we learned the group featured former members of another local act we love, The Groanies. The group’s fuzzy, heavy desert rock hits up right in the sweet spot. Needless to say we’re looking forward to another chance to see these guys again. Check their album Sirens and we think you’ll agree Fiig are a band you should be paying attention to…