Local promoters light up the valley scene with music

By Seth Quillen

November 18, 2004 | Just a couple of years ago it was almost impossible to find a good rock show in Cache Valley. The last couple, however, are proof that the valley is changing. You can't walk more than about 20 yards these days without seeing a flyer promoting a band and the burgeoning music scene right here in little ol' Logan, Utah.

Every part of the valley is getting on the new craze, from the Smithfield Main Theatre up north though Logan's Cache Valley Fun Park, all the way down to Scooter's in Hyrum. In the past month the valley has seen such talents as Limbeck, The Format, Hudson River School and New Transit Direction.

The recent Switchfoot show put on by Associated Students of USU was a great success. Matt Wheatly, a USU student majoring in biology was impressed with the concert and loved the fact that it was in Logan, not Salt Lake City for once.

"Why should we have to travel a hundred miles to everything," Wheatly said. "It's about time to start getting some shows up here."

ASUSU is not the only entity bringing bands to the valley, there are several local businesses that focus solely on the music scene in the area.

Adam Brown, founder of Sentimental Entertainment, started doing show about a year and a half ago. He was trying to fill time while he waited for members of his band, Woodly Bog, to return home from a church mission.

"I wanted shows here, I love music but I didn't have a band so I started booking shows down at Scooter's in Hyrum," said Brown.

Brown has brought such high profile acts such as The Ataris and AFI during his tour as a promoter. He currently books shows at the Smithfield Main Theatre, which was to be closed until he convinced the owner to let him start putting on shows in the venue. Since then the Main Theatre has been doing several shows a month with great success.

"In my opinion, when bands come through Logan they love it," Brown said. "I've had lots of bands say this was the biggest crowd on their tour."

Another promoter, Collin Searle and his team have also experienced great success in the valley. Searl operates under the name Verbatim Music and has been putting on events for the last two years.

"We started out doing a small little show of all local Utah bands at the old Club Skyline," Searle said. "But what we really wanted to do is bring out nationally touring bands and give the locals a chance to open for some big names."

And they are doing just that.Verbatim Music promoted The Suburban Curse Tour at the Cache Valley Fun Park. The show featured Lucky Boys Confusion and The Plain White T's from Chicago and Army of Freshmen from California, and a spot on the bill for locals Hassenpfeffer and the Bomb Diggity.

Logan's new music scene is not restricted to rock, there is also a thriving underground Hip Hop movement, headed by USU student DJ Squints. Owner of Unreal Records, Squints focuses on Hip Hop and DJ battles similar to the Eminem's 2002 hit film, 8 Mile. He felt they had a thing going until there was an abrupt halt to their shows upstairs at the Bluebird Restaurant.

"We had a lot of great shows until the cops shut us down," Squints said. "They said it was something to do with the fire code."

For more info on shows in Cache Valley, check out these websites: www.utahbands.com, www.loganscene.tk and Sentimental Entertainment.

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