Shell Yeah I Want to Tell Ya about My Top 5 Picks!

March 17, 2023
by Eric Nelson
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This will be my first time at Treefort Music Fest and first I wanna say... Holy Moly! Has the line up always been this huge?!!!

I spent hours going thru all the amazing artists, workshops, and events. Thankfully, Treefort has made making a plan extremely smooth with their app and website. The ability to create your own schedule and share with friends, I had the app pulled up on my phone checking out each artist with a bio and links to their music on available platforms and also had the website pulled up so I could explore a little bit more as I made my schedule on the app. I went through and added all my faves then was able to scroll thru my schedule and see conflicting gigs. UH ALSO... YOGA every day?! Yes please!

I am excited all around to experience this fest. Taking over a city is a pretty cool concept and I was blown away with how many bands were represented from around the world. Japan, Venezuela, New Zealand, Pakistan, on the other end of that a lot of Bands from Idaho and plenty of SLC representation. Indigenous Artists, Queer Artists, Activists, Podcasts, Comedy, Discussions, Family activities AND music for Daaaays! It was really hard to decide, I am making some sacrifices of bands I know come to Salt Lake often. I mostly based my picks off uniqueness and danceability.

Here is my 5 picks I will for sure catch and the rest will have coin tosses and signs from the universe.

TEKE::TEKE

Fri 3/24 8:10pm: TEKE::TEKE at El Korah Shrine

Sat 3/25 7:50pm: TEKE::TEKE at Bandshell

A 7-Piece rock band from Japan fusing Traditional Eastern (and their instruments) with Western psychedelic and punk (and their instruments). It's very wild and energetic. I can't wait to get swept away in something I have never really experienced before. I have a feeling this is gonna be epic. TEKE::TEKE recently signed with grunge label Kill Rock Stars, that is some great company right there.

L.A. EXES

Fri 3/24 7:30pm: L.A. Exes at The Olympic

This LA based, Queer Quartet has everything I am gonna need half way through the festival. Love the humor and playfulness of this band, they can definitely back it all up with some serious talent. Can't wait to jump around and have a GAY OL' TIME!

N3ptune + Rusty Steve

Sat 3/25 6:30pm: N3ptune + Rusty Steve at Knitting Factory Boise

Hailing from Denver, CO These two bring all sorts of vibes. I was impressed to read about all the folks N3ptune has collaborated, but then once I started listening to the music... I felt gospel, rock, R&B, so much emotion and energy going into their music. Also love the strong empowering lyrics, the queer vibes, and the flare for presentation. Looks like church is coming early this week!

INFINITY SONG

Sat 3/25 11:00pm: Infinity Song at Basque Center

Family Harmonies?! Yes please. They were all home schooled and their dad moved them from Detroit to New York where they performed all over the place, eventually catching Jay Z's eye who signed them to Roc Nation, in 2020 they came out with the beautiful album Mad Love. I got lost for a while on youtube finding all of their beautiful covers.

ZETA

LATE Sat 3/25 12:30am: Zeta at El Korah Shrine

This is gonna be the end of Saturday's adventures. It is going to take every ounce of energy to get me home after I leave it all on the dance floor to with this Venezuelan band. I feel the power of the people calling me with these Latin Rock vibes.