Super Celebrations

Salt Lake City Upcoming Concerts: Wynonna Judd, Supersuckers, First Night

By Brian Staker, 12-27-06

	Staker Pick of the Week: Supersuckers

 Wynonna Judd

Wynonna Judd has always been a bit of a country chameleon. Since performing with her mother Naomi as the Judds in the early 80's she was part of the resurgence of country and its re-emergence as a mainstream music, while upon branching off on her solo career in the 90's (partly due to her mother’s retirement due to Hepatitis C) she has charted a path of popular success while adding eclectic elements to the mix like roots rock, blues, gospel, adult contemporary pop, folk, or Southern R&B.

Her 1992 self-titled debut and her next two entries, 1993's Tell Me Why and 1996's Revelations both went platinum based on number one singles on the country charts, although at about that time the conservative country music press and fanbase became distraught that she had become pregnant out of wedlock. 1997's release The Other Side was a kind of response to her critics in that it showed a more individualistic, roots and blues influenced music that declared her musical independence from moralistic constraints.

At the dawn of the new millennium she reunited with her mother and sisters, and several songs were released from that stint to remind us of the importance of the family to country music. They have proven time and time again that women can have their own voice in a conservative genre without standing in the shadow of a masculine figure. On the heels of the holiday, her appearance here is sure to feature songs from this year’s album A Classic Christmas, in which she takes her turn on traditionals.

December 28, Eccles Center (Park City)

Supersuckers **Staker’s Pick of the Week!**

I know it’s not terribly original as a weekly pick, as for these parts the Supersuckers are a favorite amongst the punk crowd, but it’s just hard to imagine anything better for a nitro-fueled funny car of a new year, a show to loosen inhibitions and let 2006 go down the hatch. You don’t think of this band from the live music capital of the world, Austin, Texas, as much more than a high-energy party band, but in a way they are postmodern poster children of punkish down home rock’n’roll.

I say this because of all their self-referentiality, the hallmark of all the new theories in art and literature. But not just referentiality to themselves as personae, as in 1999's release How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World, but also the same year’s The Evil Powers of Rock 'n' Roll. Not that they have been the first to rock out with their ‘Rock with a capital R’ out, as Led Zeppelin and Lou Reed both had songs titled “Rock’n’Roll,” but the one-time Sub Pop anomaly sticks tongue-in-cheek during the process, a physical gesture hardly likely to be noticed due to the efforts to stop your eardrums rattling when you listen, and tune up your aural intake to a sweet air-to-fuel mixture that’ll provide a smooth, yet earth-shaking hum. This year’s Live at Bart's CD Cellar and Record Shop doesn’t quite give the feeling that a live show experience can; how could it? Like Colin Hickey’s recommendation of Reverend Horton Heat, coming January 12, automotive metaphors accelerate into view. Catch ‘em before they head off on a UK tour.

Other Salt Lake venues are featuring Salt Lake bands, and if you are looking for local musicians to cheer in the new year, Blackhole, the new band fronted by Chopper (on the cover of SLUG Magazine this month with a bevy of Santa-clad beauties) is a good choice, at the Broken Record (formerly Todd’s). Only they should be opening for this show. Check our local event listings for other New Year’s Eve activities.

December 31, Suede

First Night

It’s hard to believe that First Night, in its Salt Lake incarnation, will attain the decade-and-a-half mark by next year’s fest. All across the country, the event has made the holiday into a real celebration of community spirit as well as the welcoming of a new year. I like to get my drink on as much as the next person on New Year’s, but the upsurge in alcohol-related auto fatalities over the Christmas weekend locally reminds us of the dangers of overconsumption. Even in our puritanical community, a few overdo it, myself included, but let’s just not get behind the wheel in that condition.

This year’s musical performers include DeSol, a New Jersey-based latin-tinged rock’n’roll band, alternative rock jam band Elbo Finn (Salt Lake expats who like so many other local musicians set up stakes in Portland), Sarasaki Acrobats, billed as ‘the first truly authentic African circus’, fire artists Incendiary Circus, gypsy band Bien Flamenco, and Reggaeton, whose name is pretty self-explanatory. The lineup is designed to offer stylistic as well as cultural diversity, to reflect in large part how far our community has come ethnically as well as in musical tastes. Not to mention the visual eye candy, with the two circuses, promising to be intoxicating without the use of artificial stimulants.

At the time of year when we reflect on the past and look forward to the future and anticipate the direction our lives and our world is going, there’s so much that has divided us of late yet look at ways we can all unite, as First Night is an example, and start of 2007 on an optimistic note, hoping for peace and prosperity for all. And look forward to a rockin’ musical calendar for the next twelve months! See ya on the other side.

December 31, Gallivan Plaza

For more SLC events, check out SaltLakeCityEvents.net.

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