Twilight Concert Series As Big As Ever

The Twilight Concert Series just hit its 30th anniversary this past summer! Since 1988, The Twilight Concert Series has become one of the biggest musical events in Utah. Every summer, the Salt Lake City Arts Council puts together a lineup of performers ranging from local artists to chart-topping bands like Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie. The event has become a staple of modern culture in Salt Lake City and is now one of Utah’s best summer tourist attractions. The concerts themselves are held in Pioneer Park in the evening, with the main acts taking the stage at twilight, which lets the series live up to its name.

This year, the concert series saw a wide variety of musicians take the stage, including Solange, The Handsome Family, Cat Power, and Andrew Bird. The last concert this season, which was on August 31, featured The Roots (Jimmy Fallon’s house band), Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires, and Joshy Soul and The Cool. The concerts on average have about 10,000 attendees, with the biggest concert being Modest Mouse in 2010 with roughly 40,000 attendees. Such a large crowd could only be gathered at an outdoor concert, a signature trait of the Twilight Concert Series.

The Series has picked up sponsorship from many local institutions, and has more recently been a place for businesses to put themselves “out there”.  Amongst the businesses you can find at concerts are EY3DREAM, Hand Drawn Photobooth, and Soul Pro. The concerts are also accompanied by many food trucks and food services, such as the Chow Truck, Fiore Pizza, and Yoshi’s. The Series is also sponsored this year by Salt Lake Community College and the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.

In 30 years, the event has grown from a small underground oddity to a miniature music festival. Unfortunately, despite its positive reception, the Festival now holds a shaky reputation with the City Council. The cost of running such a big event is taking its toll, and the Council is beginning to question the future of the Series. Some people argue that this is because the former manager of the festival, Casey Jarman, left her position in 2014. Whatever the case, the Series has become a major staple of Salt Lake’s culture, and many people would prefer it stay that way.