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Salt Lake Live Music Poster and Flyer Collection 745 Items

ref. 71248 — Salt Lake County 2001. Ephemera. Fine. More images available upon request. 745 items. Almost all in fine condition. The flyers and posters range from 1/2 standard sheet size approx. 8.5" x 5" to large posters approx. 17" x 14". Most are standard sheet size 8.5" x 11". Roughly a dozen duplicates are present. An enormous collection documenting live music festivals and performance in the Salt Lake area through the 1990s in the clubs and small venues of the valley. Legendary clubs like the Speedway Cafe Pompadour Bar & Grill Bricks Spanky's Playscool the basement of DV8 Burt's Tiki Lounge Dead Goat Saloon Area 51 The Zephyr Club The Holy Cow now the Urban Lounge and Kilby Court are well represented as well as the holes-in-the-wall like the Moroccan Painted Word Shaggy's Living Room and Green Guinea. Educational and cultural institutions and outdoor venues are also prominently featured in this collection including Bryant Intermediate School the University of Utah Ballroom in the Union Building Westminster College the Indian Walk In Center Draper Park and the Fairgrounds Creative Arts Building. Some places provided venues on a weekly basis other places provided them only a few times or maybe even just once. A number of flyers showcase then unknown bands who first played tiny venues like these and who went on to gain a larger audience and in some cases are still performing today The Vandals Social Distortion Bad Religion GWAR Slayer Johnny Rotten Suicidal Tendencies Korn and many others. Countless local acts are represented including those that performed steadily throughout these years Iceburn; Endless Struggle; Starmy; Red Bennies; Bob Moss; Daughters of the Nile as well as bands that were together for slightly shorter periods Mouthbreather; Gnawing Suspicion; Wovoka etc. Interestingly a handful of local bands that had their origins in the 1980s appear such as Bad Yodelers Potato Heads Dinosaur Bones The Clocks a noise band Slaughterchrist and the Stench. The bands are announced in a way that was standard during this period- with imaginatively designed often do-it-yourself paper flyers posters and handbills. The lion's share are illustrated with no mention of the artist. Some are very simple just delivering the necessary information. This collection manages to document the entirety of the music scene instead of a single genre with numerous examples of posters and handbills promoting Hardcore Punk Pop Rap Metal Industrial Folk Bluegrass Rockabilly Psychobilly Ska/Reggae etc. Not only does this archive highlight the bands and the incredibly diverse musical movements that were moving through Utah during this period but at the same time it calls attention to the promoters who worked so hard to put the shows together find willing venues and get the word out to the public- promoters such as Raunch Modified Heavy Metal Shop Graywhale KRCL and Slug Productions. Finally when flipping through the flyers one can't help but think of the artists behind the scenes who created the flyers thereby playing a large role in advertising the events. The bands that passed through Utah came from far and wide as is evidenced in these flyers and they performed at all types of different venues. They came from Washington D.C. California Missouri Michigan the UK Canada and a multitude of other places. More often than not after a band played the members did not disappear backstage never to be seen again. Instead most of them watched the other bands that were playing and they mingled with the people who had come to support them creating a significant exchange of experiences and ideas. The shows were frequent widening the audience's world and cultivating a sense that there was something to do in a state known for its sheltered lifestyle and conservatism. Many of the shows took place in Salt Lake City however they also radiated out to areas which included Murray Provo Bountiful and Logan. This certainly wasn't the only time in Utah's history that an energetic and creative music movement took hold of the musicians promoters and audiences however the period represented in this collection does symbolize an important piece of the puzzle in the counter-culture history of Utah's live music scene. First and foremost these flyers underscore the ideas and values that were important to the musicians and the people attending these shows: providing "all ages" venues; charging low entry fees often $3 to $7 and occasionally organizing free events; working around Utah's quirky laws such as the private club law which required a patron to pay a fee and fill out an application before entering a bar; and banding together to put on benefit shows for the unsheltered Food Not Bombs Rape Recovery Center Utah Humane Society Best Friends Animal Society Utah Food Bank and U.S. Cuba Friendshipment/Right to Travel among others. A large extremely well preserved assortment of visually interesting concert flyers. While the archive illustrates how diversified the music scene in Utah was during the nineties at the same time it demonstrates the cohesiveness of the local music community- a community which possessed a strong ability to foster an environment which promoted individuality and activism. "Witness the shredding of the Zion Curtain" - from the flyer for Head Fest 95'. unknown