KILBY BLOCK
PARTY #4
WORDS + IMAGES BY SEANA ADAME AND ELSA GOTTVALL
This May, I had the pleasure of covering Kilby Block Party, a 3 day festival filled with some of this generation's greatest musicians all nestled in the Salt Lake City mountains. Day one started off strong with acts ranging everywhere from local artists like Ritt Momney to Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Day one is always where you start to get your footing at a festival - taking it all in, memorizing stages and making friends with the security guards.
I started off my day late with the incredible Japanese Breakfast and damn do they put on a show. One of my favorite things about Michelle Zauner is how interactive and perceptive to her fans she is. You can tell through her stage presence how much she loves what she does. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start off the weekend.
JAPANESE BREAKFAST
DOMINIC FIKE
Next up on my roster was Euphoria heartthrob and overnight sensation, Dominic Fike. This man is such an enigma to me; everything from the range of his fans to what to categorize his music as. One thing I will say though is that he knows how to get the crowd engaged and that goes a long way; his set was definitely some of the most fun I had all day.
YEAH YEAH YEAHS
My most awaited set of the day was Yeah Yeah Yeahs. From start to finish YYY’s is more than just a show. Karen O gives the audience an experience that will create a lasting memory - something that lingers for days after and has you rewatching videos from their set attempting to relive that butterfly feeling in your chest. One thing I love about Karen O is her stage presence, especially her outfits. For this show she came out in a custom Christian Joy jumpsuit with red fringe gloves. Her costumes always give so much texture to their performances and made photographing her such a surreal dream. If you were able to see their performance this KPB, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.
TANUKICHAN
Day two was my most anticipated day by far. It was incredibly hard to choose which artists to shoot this day because the line-up was stacked back to back. I decided to start off with Tanukichan. I found Tanukichan last year with the song ‘Lazy Love’. Tanukichan keeps it simple on stage— my only complaint with this set was how low her vocals were, but other than that it was a beautiful way to start off day two.
Next for me was my hometown local legend, Alex G. *Fun fact* Alex and I went to the same high school in our small town of Havertown, PA. Growing up watching him play shows at local venues, it was amazing to see how much he’s grown as a performer.
ALEX G
CAROLINE POLACHEK
After Alex was someone I’ve been hoping to see since the release of her album ‘Pang’ in 2019: Caroline Polachek. This girl knows how to perform; Not only is she an incredible vocalist, she makes every performance so individual. Unfortunately most of her stage design was taken down due to the unfortunate weather, but I think everyone was just grateful to see her perform at all. Honestly, the set design was just a plus. She was my favorite set of the day by far. No one compares.
WEYES BLOOD
Post Caroline haze was the absolutely incredible Weyes Blood; where Caroline took videos side stage like a proud mother. Weyes Blood is an equally incredible performer. WB is such an individual, there is simply no one like her. I am so grateful to have caught this set - even Julian Casablancas himself stood side stage with us all watching equally in awe.
RUN THE JEWELS
What a way to switch up the day by going from the haunting vocals of Weyes Blood to the body-shaking bass of Run The Jewels. These guys are not my typical listen/shoot, but something I’m trying to actively do more is step out of my comfort zone and they made that jump more fun than I could have imagined. One thing I noticed was RTJ’s fan base was some of the wildest I’d seen all day. Seeing a 6 year old on their dads shoulders throwing up the RTJ hand sign made my day, and Killer Mike shouting that kid and his dad out made their weekend.
THE STROKES
Closing out the night was The Strokes. This photo pit was packed like no other, we were literally packed in there like sardines with strict regiments as to where we could and couldn’t stand. This set was the hardest for every photographer in there to shoot. With their extremely low house lights and highly contrasted back lit stage design JC definitely intends to make photographing them a challenge. A challenge every photographer gladly accepted. Strokes fans are some of the most dedicated of them all - waiting nearly 9 hours to get barricade, not even leaving to get food or drinks. It was so nostalgic hearing the classics like “The Adults Are Talking” and “Last Nite” front and center. This was definitely a full circle moment for me and an insane way to close out day two.
MANNEQUIN PUSSY
Heading into the last day full of adrenaline, I started off my day with Mannequin Pussy; An incredibly unapologetic and powerful group from Philadelphia, PA. These 5 have great stage presence and crowd engagement. They use their platform to not only create beautiful music, but to fight for what they believe in. Mannequin Pussy is truly never one to miss.
FAYE WEBSTER
Second set of day three was the long awaited Faye Webster. The incredible self-taught artist from Atlanta, Georgia. Hopping on stage in a cobalt blue set, Faye was the most interactive with her band all weekend. You can tell how much she appreciates and values what they do on stage, something so refreshing to see. Faye was a breath of fresh air on the start of this incredibly hot day in SLC.
DUSTER
Slowing it down even more I headed over to the Kilby stage for Duster. This was such a nice break to experience. Personally, Duster is one of those bands that I designate to the confines of my bedroom walls because their music usually makes me cry. There’s something about listening to them in the bright sun with one of your best friends that changes this for you. Their set was pretty stagnant, but not a single person was complaining. It was a really beautiful set to close your eyes and just digest your weekend to.
ETHEL CAIN
Post-Duster, I took a much needed break in the day to eat lunch and grab something to drink. The food options were pretty decent, but the lines were incredibly long. This is pretty universal for most festivals, but you can tell this one is just in their first few years of inception. It was really nice to just take a break, lay under a tree in the dirt and listen. As a photographer I find it hard to learn when to take a break, but three days with no time for myself I finally took a step back to take it all in and I’m so grateful that I did.
After my much needed lunch break I headed over to the Mountain Stage for someone I’ve been hoping to photograph since I found her music last year: Ethel Cain. Normally, I’m incredibly calm and collected, but this set tore me to shreds. Not to get too personal, but I went through an insanely hard break up this past year that absolutely ruined me for a while; In the midst of that, I found Ethel. I was so grateful to find her and her music and hear words and melodies I could truly relate to. Talking to fans in the audience it seemed as though this was a collective experience. Her fans are die-hards— probably more than any other from this weekend. You could tell how truly present every single person in the crowd was. When “A House In Nebraska’ started playing, I was holding back tears that eventually I just let flow. Crying in the photo pit was a new experience for me, but I turned around to look at the friends I had made and the audience to see I wasn’t alone. Post-show fans were throwing gifts on stage and she took every last one. There is not a single bad thing I could say about her or her performance. This set was overall the best set + experience of the weekend for me. I truly will never forget it. If you ever get the chance to go to one of her shows, I cannot recommend it enough.
With an unknowing storm approaching, I decided to head over to my last set of the day at the Lake Stage for Pixies. It started to drizzle right before they took the stage, but that didn’t stop them from playing. This was another set for me that was incredibly nostalgic, and I found that a lot of the other photographers shared this feeling; A moment of disbelief. I’ve been listening to Pixies since I was a kid, I even remember the first time I heard “Where Is My Mind?”— I was in my dads cherry red VW bug when it came on the radio. We were driving around the San Diego coast with the windows down and my life unknowingly changed forever. I think that’s the song that made me fall in love with music, with the feeling it can give you on a sunny day.
THE PIXIES
Photos courtesy of Kilby Block Party
Photos by Seana Adame & Elsa Gottvall
Words by Seana Adame
Editing by Seana Adame
Thank you SNS Presents