#2904 three things: June concerts at RBG

 

I volunteered at three concerts in June at Red Butte Garden in June. Let's recap!

1. Burning Spear is an OG roots reggae band from Jamaica. This was the first show of the year at the Garden. I worked east side recycling, so I had a nice view of the stage and excellent people-watching opportunities. The weather was nice, people were happy to be outside listening to live music again, and there were marijuana-scented good vibes throughout the amphitheater. Here is a pic I took of Red Butte Mountain during the golden hour.

the golden hour during the Burning Spear show

2. KALEO is a bluesy rock band from Austin, TX by way of Iceland. This is one of the shows that MT really wanted to see this summer. It was the second time I have seen the band at RBG. I was on the volunteer roster for clean-up, so we bought one ticket for the show, since I get to go to the shows that I'm working anyway. We brought chairs and a picnic and enjoyed the show. After, MT packed everything back to the truck and waited while I helped clean up the venue. It worked out well. 

When we left home for the show, it was very windy and cold. We were dressed in layers and long pants. I also had my long winter coat in case it rained. It did not rain, but I'm glad I had the coat because it made an excellent blanket for my legs.  Although it didn't really warm up, the winds died down and it turned out to be a pleasant enough evening. One of the bonuses of the cooler weather was that the crowd thinned out early and there wasn't a lot of garbage to pick up. 

Here are a couple of pics from that night:

our view of the stage at the KALEO show

It was a bit cold that night

3. Mat Kearney is a singer-songwriter with a sweet voice and a fun personality. This is the second time I've seen him at RBG. I think he is a very good performer. His albums are nice, but he shines in concert. One of my favorite things about him is the mash-ups that he does. He plays one of his songs, then mashes in a cover with his own spin on it. For example, he did one of his songs, "Money" and mashed in "Bust a Move." It was fun. 

My volunteer assignment that night was west side recycling. I was originally scheduled to do clean up, but the volunteer coordinator called to see if I could fill in on recycling since someone had to back out. No problem. Recycling is good because it is a longer shift, so more volunteer hours rack up. West side recycling is busier than east side because the venue exits are on the west side as well as concessions and merch, so lots more people pass by. You also can't see the stage well unless you leave the bins to go get a look at the stage. It is okay to do that, and at any rate, you can hear the music perfectly well anyway. 

It was a lovely evening, temperature-wise. There was a full moon playing hide and seek with me through the clouds. 

I left the bins for a look at Mat Kearney on stage

full moon peaking through the clouds

I had two shows on my RBG schedule in July, one of which is just a stand-by.  I had to back out of the show I had since we bought tickets to see a couple of concerts in Park City that same weekend. I'm hopeful that a volunteer opportunity comes up that I can get in on, though.