SINEAD O’CONNOR, DAMIEN DEMPSEY
It’s been seven hours and approximately 6,205 days since Sinead O’ Connor first stole America’s heart with a song that took most people a similar amount of time to figure out who wrote it (hint: he’s tiny, wears purple and performed at the Super Bowl). The Irish singer/songwriter then famously pissed off the mainstream by tearing up a picture of the Pope on live TV, advocating women’s rights (the nerve!) and generally speaking her mind (the outrage!). She later staged a Celine Dion/Jay-Z-type retirement, took out a newspaper ad to “reclaim her sanity” and returned with a didn’t-see-that-coming reggae album. Her latest release Theology finds inspiration in Jerusalem, Jamaica and Jesus Christ Superstar. Her aim, at least, is true. Don’t miss opening act Damien Dempsey, a Dublin balladeer whose unique voice reflects equal parts pub-crawls, political rallies and rolling-hillside strolls. Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 355-ARTS, ArtTix.org
• Also Thursday: Qui (Urban Lounge—Read Article); Strangers Die Everyday, Lisa Papineau (Kilby Court); The Last Vegas, Last of the V8s (Burt’s Tiki Lounge)
Friday 9.21
THE FUCKING CHAMPS
I can’t think of a better name for this band, fucking-A! These guys shred. And, by shred, I mean wail on their guitars like the very metal pioneers people tend to claim they’re not. It’s not clear why certain critics necessarily equate metal with big hair, white jeans, street hockey (?) and Satan—things The Fucking Champs aren’t into that and somehow separate the Bay Area trio from, say, Mötley Crüe, Pussy Galore and Slayer. Of course, while their latest Drag City release VI delivers no “Dr. Feelgood” or even “Raining Blood” singles, the album is no doubt a metal symphony. VI’s precise instrumentals manage to appeal to both guitar geeks and listeners who will never know—nor ever care to know—the secrets behind the complex time signatures of “Earthen Sculptor.” The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 10 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with Birds of Avalon)
• Also Friday: Two Gallants, Blitzen Trapper (Kilby Court); Gentry Densley (Ken Sanders Books); Umbrellas (Solid Ground Café); In Vein, Blackhole, Vile Blue Shades (Logan Fairgrounds); They Might Be Giants (The Depot); Kevin Elliot & The Broken (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Gabriel & Dresden (The Hotel); Ask the Dust, Subrosa (Broken Record); Englebert Humperdinck (Peppermill Concert Hall, Wendover); Granite State (Brewskis, Ogden)
Saturday 9.22
GORE GORE GIRLS, ¡ANDALE!, AZON
Look ma—no hands! No old tricks up the new sleeve; no man behind the curtain. It’s just the Gore Gore Girls knocking out nothing fancy. This Detroit quartet hasn’t changed much since their 1997 inception when straight-up, sweet-and-sour garage-punk bands helped extend the lifespan of independent record stores. Their latest release Get the Gore ices simple, catchy ’60s and ’80s girl-group choruses with petty criminal flair. These are the girls who skipped school, sneaked menthols and shoplifted Wet N’ Wild. Now they’re playing gigs with Salt Lake City’s own tough kids ¡Andale! (who’ve supposedly just finished recording an album, hint hint) and Azon, a sort-of new chip off the old block of Stiletto, All Systems Fail, The Knvz and Subrosa. Burt’s Tiki Lounge, 726 S. State, 10 p.m. Info: 521-0572
• Also Saturday: Este Pizza Benefit: The Body, Afro Omega (Urban Lounge); Little Bit & The Custom-Matics (Pat’s BBQ); Granite State (Brewskis, Ogden)
Monday 9.24
BLAQK AUDIO
If monogamy seems like a tall order for the average Dick and Jane (or Dick/Dick, Jane/Jane), consider its implications on the successful rock & roller. We’re not advocating having groupies and orgies, just enjoying the perks of side projects—glorious extensions of creative passions gone wild. Without a proper outlet for their electronic new-wave habit, Davey Havok and Jade Puget might have turned AFI into the next Depeche Mode instead of turning a whole new audience onto the retro sound. Free from the expectations to screech and wail, Havok tones it down and unravels more restrained, dark-romantic vocals over Puget’s synthesized movements. Blaqk Audio manages to be both a throwback and timeless instigator of dance, dance revolutions. In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, 8 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with DJ Viking)
• Also Monday: The Donnas (Avalon Theater); Plastic Parachute (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Camper Van Beethoven (Suede, Park City)
Tuesday 9.25
• The New Pornographers, Lavender Diamond (The Depot—Read Article); Mostly Bears, Todd Deatherage (Kilby Court); Billy Joe Shaver (Suede, Park City)
Wednesday 9.26
When local Arcade Fire fans learned the Canadian indie-rockers would not be playing one of their favorite watering holes, or even the corporate nuclear-waste arena, but rather a family-friendly events center largely recognized for wagon rides and Halloween activities, they all agreed: Somebody didn’t do their homework. But really, what do you expect from a band that routinely stages spontaneous gigs in high schools, lobbies and even an elevator? Such nontraditional venues only enrich live versions of Funeral’s rousing anthems “Wake Up” and “Rebellion (Lies)” or the more recent Springsteen-esque Neon Bible hits “Keep the Car Running” and “Antichrist Television Blues”—and don’t tell me Win Butler doesn’t sound like The Boss when he rushes out a line like “You gotta work hard and you gotta get paid/The girl’s 13, but she don’t act her age.” The Boss, however, never played a joint like this. And he certainly never rocked out with James Murphy. Get innocuous! Thanksgiving Point, 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 328-7328, Ticketmaster.com
• Also Wednesday: Vox Carnage (Liquid Joe’s)
Coming Up
Satellite Party, Mink (In the Venue, Sept. 27); Black Mountain, The Cave Singers (Kilby Court, Sept. 28); Robert Earl Keen (The Depot, Sept. 28); Everton Blender (Suede, Sept. 28); Buddy Miles (Suede, Sept. 30); Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs (Kilby Court, Oct. 1); Numbers (Urban Lounge, Oct. 1); Voodoo Glowskulls (Avalon Theater, Oct. 2); Legendary Shack Shakers (Burt’s Tiki Lounge, Oct. 2); The Cure (E Center, Oct. 4); Deerhoof (In the Venue, Oct. 6); Mandy Moore, Rachel Yamagata (Avalon Theater, Oct. 6); Chris Cornell, Earl Greyhound (The Depot, Oct. 6)
cw
