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Kilby Block Occasion started 5 years in the past as an precise block occasion. On the time, it was a one-day affair celebrating 20 years of the all-ages SLC venue Kilby Courtroom. Given the venue has hosted legions of now-gigantic and beloved indie acts, even that inaugural occasion managed to nab Loss of life Cab For Cutie as headliners. By its third 12 months, the occasion had already expanded into extra of a correct pageant, with a 2022 iteration that boasted Phoebe Bridgers and Mac DeMarco headlining a lineup dotted with of-the-moment indie luminaries. However issues actually took off final 12 months. Kilby moved to the Utah State Fairpark and introduced an eye catching array of cross-generational indie rock: Pavement, the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Pixies, Japanese Breakfast. In just a few quick years, it had grow to be a real-deal fest.
This 12 months occurred to mark not simply Kilby Block Occasion’s fifth iteration, but additionally the twenty fifth anniversary of the venue the pageant started in tribute to. This time round, Kilby returned to the Fairpark, and as soon as extra curated a lineup that spanned eras of core indie. Given this 12 months honed in on names from the height weblog period, it featured loads of acts carefully tied to Stereogum’s identification over time. It felt type of apparent to go and take a look at Kilby for the primary time.
Even with the pageant’s fast development, Kilby stays a really chill and navigable expertise, making it a deeply nice counterpoint to among the extra established (and bloated) choices on America’s summer season circuit. The pageant has two massive phases and two small ones, and it doesn’t take lengthy to get anyplace. Apart from just a few rain threats, Might in SLC proved to be excellent climate for a pageant, particularly with the aforementioned surroundings. There was among the requisite festival-in-2024 enterprise, like an activation with Ford automobiles the place you would cost your telephone, or $8 Celsius mocktails. However, charmingly, Kilby made use of the fairgrounds, too. Artisanal meals vehicles sat alongside the house’s old style stadium concessions, whereas one of many fest’s sponsors took over the skatepark close to the doorway for a sequence of cash-for-tricks contests. It additionally meant Kilby had extra indoor restroom amenities than I’ve ever seen at a pageant and that provides the entire thing this slight air of, I don’t know, being extra civilized. And when you’re taking a rideshare on the finish of the evening, you don’t must stroll 25 minutes to a chosen pickup zone like at among the extra sprawling festivals.
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