City Weekly Best of Utah 2017

Best of Utah 2017: Music & Nightlife

22 reader-voted winners in music & nightlife, from the City Weekly Best of Utah 2017 poll.

Ask Ave: What won Best of Utah 2017 for Music & Nightlife

• Best All-Ages VenueKilby Court
• Best altruistic music festivalGivestock

  It's not unusual for a music festival to have a charity component, whether it directly benefits an institution, donates a percentage of the proceeds or simply allows altruistic…

• Best Community Event/FestivalUtah Arts Festival
• Best concert I didn't get to seeEl Tri, et al. at 801 Event Center

  Let's give some Trump fans a heart attack: The Mexicans are coming! Every year, more and more rock en Español acts cross our borders and steal our attention with their excellent music. Por…

• Best Concert of the YearDepeche Mode at Usana Amphitheatre
• Best day this year for festival addictsSept. 9, 2017

  It seems like every year a glut of city events fall on one jam-packed day, and this year it was Sept. 9. Understandable, then, if you weren't sure how to fit in everything. Here was a…

• Best DIY experience at a concertThe Utah Blues Festival's Cigar Box Guitar-Making Workshop

  Side attractions at music festivals are nothing new—but how many of them teach you to build an instrument? For $25, Utah Blues Festival organizers provided two dozen attendees with…

• Best free concert series for yo' cheap assSalt City Sounds

  Not including the $5 troop of Keystone Light tall-boys and slices of post-concert Pie Hole pizza during each weekly excursion, I spent a whopping $0 to see four weekly concerts at SLC's…

• Best Gentlemen's ClubTrails
• Best Latin clubClub Karamba

  I don't like loud music or loud people. Club Karamba offers both. It's really the only time I give myself to leave the ol' comfort zone with the help of a few drinks. The dancing is…

• Best LGBTQ ClubThe Sun Trapp
• Best Live Music VenueRed Butte Garden Amphitheater
• Best Massage TherapyThe Kura Door
• Best Music FestivalDas Energi
• Best Overall Band/GroupImagine Dragons
• Best photographer of modern-day nostalgiaLyndi Bone

  I'm struggling to find a less creepy way to say this, so I'll just go for it: I am obsessed with this photographer's work. At the Urban Arts Festival this past September, I didn't want to…

• Best Physical TherapyThe Orthopedic Specialty Hospital
• Best place to see a concert and activateBoing! Anarchist Collective

  Rock 'n' roll is about rebellion. Located in a brick house near Liberty Park, Boing!'s main concern is activism, but they host concerts from time to time. And while local and national acts…

• Best Red Rock MealPainted Pony
• Best Speakeasy to listen to '90s Hip-HopThe Rest

  The walk down to the basement of Bodega gives the authentic feel of a 1920s speakeasy, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll hear Duke Ellington spinning on the record player. Depending…

• Best Summer Variety VenueSandy Amphitheater

  Few things say "summer" in Utah quite like outdoor entertainment—and for many, that means concerts. You'll get plenty of those in a Sandy Amphitheater summer season, as 2017 just wrapped…

• Best up-close and-personal choreographyUtah Rep's Kiss of the Spider Woman

  Smaller theater companies often have to make due with smaller spaces. That's the nature of the business, and sometimes a particular challenge when you're trying to mount a musical. But Utah…