Airports are fun sometimes. Airports are especially fun after a weekend of live music and you can look out into the mountains from your departure gate. Kilby Block Party 2024, the fifth iteration of the festival and the twenty-fifth anniversary of Kilby Court in Salt Lake City, is over. And that means it’s time to determine who the best of the fest was!
I’m going to preface this one by saying that since the weather delay on Saturday changed our coverage plans a bit, there won’t be any Honorable Mentions this time. Similar to every festival except Treefort, I’ll choose the top three acts from each day. Then, I’ll organize the number one acts from each day in an order that I think represents the very best the weekend had to offer. Contrary to what our daily recaps have said, the top three acts of each day were fairly simple to choose.
3. Alvvays
The Canadian indie-pop perfectionists have struck me once again. From the first count-in for “Pharmacist,” Molly Rankin and company were electric. At this point seasoned veterans of the festival circuit, Alvvays put together a cohesive set to both showcase the new material (Blue Rev still counts as new) and give the longtime fans the old work they might want to hear. “Man, this festival is huge now! It was not like this the last time we played.” As the band grows, so does the festival.
1. Courtney Barnett/Vampire Weekend
I have to follow traditional rules of ties this go around. Courtney Barnett and Vampire Weekend were on completely even levels. The former came to the Lake Stage with a rhythm section of indie rock legends and proceeded to bring the house down with work from her first three albums and a few EP tracks. The latter brought an infectious joy to the festival, showcased in an extended jam of their 2019 track, “Sunflower.” It is nearly impossible to put one above the other, so we have a tie.
3. The Postal Service
It’s always a treat to see an album performed in full. It’s even more of a treat to see a great album performed in full. Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis decided to bring The Postal Service’s sole album, Give Up, to life again for the twentieth anniversary of the album’s release. For Kilby Block Party, the crowd was completely rapt. Awestruck. Enveloped in The Postal Service’s performance as if it were 2003 and they were seeing it for the first time. And that is always a beautiful experience.
2. Death Cab for Cutie
Here’s where I have to come clean. The main reason this is not a tie at number two with The Postal Service is because although the performance concept was the same – performing a great album in full for its twentieth anniversary – Transatlanticism and I go back way further than me and Give Up. I can still remember being ten years old and hearing “The Sound of Settling” for the first time. I can feel the tears rolling down my teenage face with the title track, “Transatlanticism,” playing in the background. I remember “Tiny Vessels” coming on a random playlist in my early twenties and finally coming to grips with a then-recent breakup. Death Cab for Cutie always had a leg up on The Postal Service, so I couldn’t see this as a tie. Transatlanticism lives, and so do I.
1. Belle & Sebastian
At the end of the day, though, for all the personal connections to Death Cab for Cutie’s work, it would be a blatant lie for me to say that the performance was better than Belle & Sebastian. When a nine-piece band can avoid any audio engineering issues, gently call out the discrepancies between the GA and VIP sides of the crowd, and then bring at least twenty extra people onstage from the crowd towards the end of the set, all the while maintaining the same lovable goofball energy… that’s a special moment. Thank you for seeing Belle & Sebastian’s importance, Kilby. That one was special.
3. Panchiko
When the moment finally arrives for an artistic work to be appreciated, the joy is palpable in the eyes of the audience and the performers. Panchiko had completely disbanded for the fifteen years leading up to their debut EP being found in what amounts to a thrift store bin and circulating the internet music communities. They’ve had a couple of years at this point to shake off the rust that must have gathered over time, but you would never know just from watching them perform that these guys had taken a massive break from music. The music itself fits in more with the modern indie rock landscape than the late-nineties/early-2000s era it was released. The guys are noticeably enjoying themselves. Even if it took twenty years, we’re glad Panchiko is having their moment.
1. CSS/Yves Tumor
Yeah, yeah, another tie, I know. It makes me seem indecisive, whatever. If you had also seen both of these sets, you’d know that they cannot possibly be anything other than equal in their respective greatness. Both of these sets were special and cathartic in their own ways. Screaming our lungs out at Yves Tumor and then dancing away the rage at CSS was amazing, but the performers themselves were who put these at the top. Yves Tumor struts around challenging you to come for their energy and intensity while CSS invites the definition of compassionate clubbing. The crowd looks after each other, the artists help out, and the symbiotic relationship is on full display.
The hardest part of this full recap was choosing which tie to put as the absolute best of the weekend, but I think it’s becoming clearer in my mind which acts had the largest effect on me. So here are the best of the best of Kilby Block Party 2024:
3. Belle & Sebastian
2. Courtney Barnett/Vampire Weekend
1. Yves Tumor/CSS
And there you have it! Thus ends the Kilby Block Party 2024 saga. We hope you’ve enjoyed our recaps and peeks into the culture in the Salt Lake City indie scene. Keep an eye out for updates from any of the artists mentioned throughout the weekend, and be sure to follow the festival for any future information!
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