As the festival gates opened on Friday, May 15th, the freshly manicured grass of the Utah State Fairpark met its demise. Over the next three days, 90,000 festivalgoers would spend their time jumping, moshing and trampling over the grounds.
Though the festival itself was a new experience for us at Barricade Magazine, we were no strangers to any of the artists that played on Friday.
As soon as we set foot on the Utah State Fairgrounds, we were hit with the nostalgic tunes from Beach Bunny. “Sports” and “Prom Queen” were the soundtrack as we explored the festival grounds for the first time.
During the late afternoon, Father John Misty took the stage with an incredibly infectious energy, enchanting the audience with his siren songs. He drew everyone in with interspersed banter and storytelling, and his band accompanied him perfectly with haunting horns and strings.
Simultaneously, on the opposite side of the grounds, on the smallest stage, was Chanel Beads. A post-punk, pop electronic solo project from New York musician Shane Lavers. Definitely an artist to keep an eye on, as this might be one of the last times he’s on a stage that small.
Japanese Breakfast soon charmed the crowd. She faced the sun during its most blinding point in the sky and delivered a miraculously beautiful set despite the heat. As the sun started to set over the mountains of the Salt Lake City skyline, the two subheadliners took their respective stages. Though it would’ve been an absolute treat to sing along to Modest Mouse playing “Float On,” we opted to watch the Oklahoma Native pop rock duo, Sports instead. They were a last-minute and recent addition to the lineup, and as fans, we were ecstatic about it. Dressed in tracksuits and goggle-like sunglasses, they looked like they walked straight out of a 90s UK Fashion Magazine, and they brought the perfect energy as subheadliners. People danced with strangers and waved their drinks in the air as they enjoyed the much-needed drop off from the day’s heat.
Once the sun had completely set, every festivalgoer was shoulder-to-shoulder, chest-to-back; completely crammed in and practically buzzing with electric energy waiting for TURNSTILE.
But within 5 seconds of the opening chord, several mosh pits had formed, and no one was still standing at their original starting point.
Opening with ‘NEVER ENOUGH,’ their most recent album’s title track, singer Brendan Yates tossed the microphone stand around in the air and was never still on stage. His energy was at one hundred percent, and he made sure everyone else’s was too.
In true punk fashion, their high-voltage, electrifying performance contained its fair share of political commentary. The big screens behind Yates and the rest of the band projected poignant messages to the crowd: at one point, a ‘Free Palestine’ sign, which drew roars of approval from fans. At another point, a boy on the barricade held up his phone screen to the camera, reading “UTAH SAYS NO TO THE DATA CENTER. WE DON’T WANT IT.” A reference to Kevin O’Leary’s planned 40,000-acre AI data center, creating a huge environmental threat to the city. All in all, Turnstile brought the perfect end to the perfect day, leaving fans completely exhausted yet exhilarated. In fact, although the crowd had just spent over an hour moshing and headbanging, and were likely all drenched in sweat and overwrought with aches and pains, not a single soul budged after the band left the stage, chanting for minutes demanding one more song. Nobody could get enough of Turnstile. It was… NEVER ENOUGH.
