City Weekly Best of Utah 2021

Best of Utah 2021: Music & Nightlife

14 reader-voted winners in music & nightlife, from the City Weekly Best of Utah 2021 poll.

Ask Ave: What won Best of Utah 2021 for Music & Nightlife

• Best Abandoned Spiritualist CommuneHome of Truth,

  San Juan County In 1933, a grief-stricken New Jersey widow named Marie Ogden founded a spiritualist commune that housed 100 people in Southern Utah. Ogden hoped to communicate with her dead…

• Best All-Ages VenueKilby Court

  Salt Lake City's perpetual "little venue that could" has seen untold numbers of incredible pre-fame acts pass through its tiny, tiny stage. Many are the Utah music fans who can tell you… — Runners-up: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, The Complex

• Best Backyard Music StapleCarolyn's Summer Garden Music Series

  This underground invitation-only garden is magical. And if you have been one of the lucky ones to be in the know, well, then you know. Everyone from Tiny Home to Michelle Moonshine to Pixie…

• Best ConcertJason Isbell

  Red Butte Garden's Outdoor Concert Series came roaring back this year, kicking off the 2021 season with a July 30 debut show from Jason Isbell that sold out quickly. A sold-out show because… — Runners-up: Post Malone, Garth Brooks

• Best DJDJ Teo

  DJ Teo knows how to throw it down in party spaces all around SLC. If you've visited The Palace or Echo, you've probably caught his wild mixes. He's also made appearances with music… — Runners-up: DJ Juggy, DJ Bangarang

• Best Live MusicUrban Lounge

  Outdoor shows are still a norm everywhere these days, and the Urban Lounge has one of the most frequently used and beloved outdoor concert spaces. Sometimes it's used to double-book shows… — Runners-up: The State Room, The Depot

• Best Live Music VenueRed Butte Garden Amphitheatre

  This summertime treasure is a no-brainer pick. Not only does Red Butte Garden bring in some of the biggest and best artists to our valley for their summer concert series, but the views that… — Runners-up: USANA Amphitheatre, The Depot

• Best Local Band/GroupPixie and the Partygrass Boys

  This local band earns their namesake over and over again—because they really do bring the party wherever they go. While 2020 put a wrench in their usually busy show schedule, they still… — Runners-up: Royal Bliss, Get It Write

• Best Millcreek Clubbin'Liquid Joe's

  Millcreek's bluest building is still ripping and roaring as usual, and clearly the readers of City Weekly know it. Home to the ever-loyal Spazmatics and their cover classics, plus tons of…

• Best Monday Night MusicGarage on Beck

  Back in May, Triggers & Slips started this cool new Monday-night music at The Garage on Beck. After a year of COVID, the city was craving something like this. We were freshly vaccinated and…

• Best Music FestivalOgden Twilight

  This year's festival was jam-packed with Ogden Twilight favorites—from Purity Ring and Portugal. The Man, to Grouplove and The Flaming Lips. The festival featured popular artists from years… — Runners-up: Country Fan Fest, Das Energi Festival

• Best Music From a VanBanyan Collective

  Van Sessions Local podcasters The Banyan Collective have their talkative fingers in every type of podcast pie—they record podcasts on news, events, visiting artists, local creatives…

• Best Music ManRandy Barton

  As executive director of the Egyptian Theatre Co. in Park City, Randy Barton is by now the most seasoned talent booker of them all in the Utah music scene. His pedigree goes back decades…

• Best New VenueThe DLC in Quarters Arcade

  In a year when many venues were just trying to stay open, another one got things rolling, practically for the first time. After a few shows right before the pandemic hit, Quarters Arcade…