Brother Ali
Sept. 18, 6 p.m.
$17 GA $5 Student
Union Free Speech Area (200 S. Central Campus Drive)
Attention Salt Lake concert-goers: the truth is here in the form of veteran rhyme-slinger Brother Ali. Ali has been on the grind since he became a blip on the collective hip-hop radar opening for Atmosphere on its 2002 “God Loves Ugly” tour. His most recent release, The Undisputed Truth, has been met with both popular and critical reviews. Opening Redfest for reggae Rabbi Matisyahu, Ali nearly always delivers a worthwhile performance, and you can’t argue with the price.
Toby Keith
Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m.
$63
USANA Amphitheatre (5400 S. 6200 West)
Toby Keith’s video “As Good As I Once Was” shows the aging country star sitting at the bar of a froufrou nightclub. The camera slides from one end of the bar, showing drink after drink of fruity, colorful, umbrella-packed cocktails until it arrives in front of Keith8212;who has in front of him a simple and honest beer bottle. The narrative develops further when a buxom, young brunette in a cowboy hat invites Keith to have a threesome with her and her identical twin (Keith covertly pops a Viagra in jubilant preparation). It’s great to see one of the most popular male icons in country music playing with his machismo image in such a fashion. It makes me feel slightly less corny when I bask in the nostalgia conjured up by one of the masters of this definitively American genre of music.
Living Legends
Sept. 22, 8 p.m.
$15
Urban Lounge (241 S. 500 East)
Since the early 1990s, the Legends crew has been rocking house parties under a variety of different monikers, including Murs, Luckyiam PSC, Scarub, Sunspot Jonz, Eligh, Grouch, Aesop Fables and Bicasso. Besides crying, its collective domination of underground hip-hop, each Legend also has their own material and side projects, such as Murs’ rising solo career, and the Grouch’s work with Zion I. Just remember to keep a tight grip on your girl as the Legends crew are as notorious for their womanizing as for their laid-back California rhymes.
Steve Aoki
Sept. 24, 9 p.m.
$8
The W Lounge (358 S. West Temple)
A little known fact about DJ Steve Aoki is that he is the third son of Benihana restaurant creator and professional Japanese wrestler Hiroaki Aoki. While at school8212;at the University of California where Aoki received two bachelor of arts degrees8212;he and his friends hosted parties at his California residence, which developed Aoki’s skills as a concert promoter and formed the creation of his own record label, Dim Mak Records. Like most celebrities, Aoki has his proverbial fingers in many different pies: a Dim Mak clothing line, shoe and clothing collaborations with Supra and KR3W and his own line of Steve Aoki headphones, not to mention his debut album of dance-invoking club bangers, titled Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles.