In a world of homogenous Live Nation lineups, shuttering festivals, and private equity backed startups in the middle of nowhere – be like Kilby Block Party. Each year, the festival grows in size and scale, picking up legendary headlining acts and spotlighting the best rising stars indie has to offer. The homegrown festival celebrated its 6th iteration last month, growing far beyond its conception as an anniversary party for the historic Kilby Court venue.
My Kilby kicked off with Teen Suicide and their masked dancer crashing around the stage while devouring cigarettes. My second time seeing Yo La Tengo was up next, and I heard one of my top songs of 2024 in “Aselestine” and the set ended with a signature Ira Kaplan guitar meltdown. I swung by Future Islands after a dinner break and saw the sweatiest frontman I’ve ever seen.
Things picked up with DEVO, red hats speckling the audience as chants to “whip it!” rang out across the festival grounds. New Order closed the night with the highlight of the weekend when The Killers’ Brandon Flowers joined the band on stage for “Bizarre Love Triangle.”
I started Friday with a long wait in the merch line to secure my holy grail from the Sinister Grift tour – an embroidered Panda Bear hat mimicking the PlayStation logo. Exploring the festival grounds led us to the Skullcandy tent, winning wristbands and sunglasses through their pachinko setup. After dropping off our spoils of war, I split time between Perfume Genius and Hovvdy (only one band should be allowed the “vv” = “w” imo). Momma’s Welcome to My Blue Sky sounded great on the Desert Stage – “I Want You (Fever)” and “Ohio All The Time” were electric listens while relaxing underneath the trees at Desert Stage.
I rotated back to Kilby Stage for Built to Spill, hearing classics from There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (but no “Carry the Zero”). Car Seat Headrest played songs off the new album I haven’t listened to yet for 80% of their set, but did manage to squeeze in a “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales.” Slowdive delivered shoegaze excellence, but I’d be lying if I said the set didn’t sound like the same hour long song until “Allison” and “When the Sun Hits” finally came out.
Rilo Kiley seemed like the legacy set everyone was waiting for, and they did not disappoint. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see yet another Jenny Lewis band reunion tour at this festival. Friday ended with Beach House, which like Slowdive, sounded like the same (great) song for an hour until “Myth” and “Space Song” closed out the show.
My first set of note on Saturday was Panda Bear – the third time I saw his full band lineup on the Sinister Grift tour. While the shows in DC covered a wider range of songs, their Kilby set was immaculately dialed in, with harmonies from every member of the band ringing loudly from the main stage. Animal Collective band mates Geologist and Avey Tare could be seen watching from the side of the stage, both contributing work to Panda Bear’s newest album from this year. The band ripped through his Angel Du$t remix of “Never Ending Game” to open the set, then worked through a storied setlist featuring tracks from Sinister Grift, Tomboy, and A Day With the Homies. Panda Bear rarely gave the audience room to breathe, letting each track blend and flow into the next, ending the set with a glitchy mashup of “Just as Well” and “Slow Motion.”
The rest of the day went by quickly, stopping to see new tracks from Forever Howlong with Black Country, New Road, St. Vincent climbing into the audience wearing an Orioles hat, and Weezer headlining the night with their Voyage to the Blue Planet set (no “Burndt Jamb” this time, though).
The final day began with a few hours of persistent rain, lined up at the barricade for Lime Garden donning ponchos. Nourished by Time was excellent at the Desert Stage, followed by a chaotic Frost Children set at the Mountain Stage just as the clouds finally broke.
Tennis and their impending retirement drew a large crowd, and their set list featured their greatest hits and newest songs from Face Down in the Garden. Suki Waterhouse delivered a lovely round of sad girl pop anthems, and TV on the Radio brought pure rock energy back to the Lake Stage to close it out for the weekend.
More than any artist on this year’s stacked lineup, I was most excited to see Justice – the biggest indie electronic duo on the planet, bringing dance excellence to Salt Lake City. The French pair emerged from smoke to stand at in between rows of synths and controllers, giving a wave and salute to their captive audience before lighting up the festival grounds with dance hits from across their storied discography, ending with a brilliant mix of “D.A.N.C.E.” and “Neverender” that changed my life forever.
Kilby Block party is the place to be for indie music fans of all generations. Their lineups hold a unique ability to unite artists from different scenes and sounds under one umbrella, letting festival goers run through the history of indie rock just by walking from stage to stage. As indie festivals like Pitchfork close their gates and Top 40 Hits slop permeates every major lineup across the country, Kilby Block Party reminds us of an essential quality that’s often missing from live music events at this scale – personality. Their lineups paint a detailed portrait of a listener, one that appreciates legendary indie bands of the past like Yo La Tengo and Built to Spill, rising acts of the present like BC,NR and Geese, and musical excellence outside and in between from artists like Justice, New Order, and Devo. If there’s one festival worth traveling to in the US, its Kilby Block Party.
gone gazing 