“Seven years ago, if you’d told me that New Order would be playing in Utah, I would’ve called you a liar,” said an older gentleman in the crowd, nodding his head along to a punchy baseline, topped off with some shiny, candy synths. The man and his friends stood in the crowd, nodding in united disbelief that their favorite band from their teenage years was standing no more than 100 yards in front of them.
In the current live music landscape of drug-fueled festivals in the desert full of tents and shamans and other somewhat mystical endeavors, remains the common denominator. It’s what people have been coming around for for ages: the music. And the bands that paved the way for your current favorite performers are not done yet. They’re still here, keeping the dream alive. Yet the question, which lingered on my mind after seeing the lineup, headlined by certainly established, but also certainly older performers, was: Can these old guys still rock?
The ’80s new-wave band, Devo, came out loud in every way possible. Wearing bright yellow jumpsuits and turning the bass up all the way, these rockers spared no performative elements during their set. They played their hits on bright yellow instruments and paused in between songs to crack jokes and check in with the crowd. The four-piece was perfectly brash and abrasive with all of the vigor of a young and emerging band. Following Devo’s striking performance came the band that seemingly everyone, as marked by their identical black and white printed t-shirts, came to see: New Order.
The set began with a drum kick that could be felt deep in your chest and traveled down to your feet and didn’t cease until the lights shut off. The crowd, which was full of graying hair and IPA-filled plastic cups, seemed instantly transported back to their youth with the first sounds of the synths. While lead singer Bernard Summer’s voice seemed slightly ailed by his near 70 years of age, the band put on a fun and catchy performance that their die-hard fans loved nonetheless.
Idaho’s own Built to Spill put on a very lively performance led by two women on bass and drums and Doug Martsch doing it all on lead and rhythm guitar and vocals. The band played their classics and played them well. Martsch played a few loud and scintillating solos that had the crowd jumping and showed zero sign of decline as he enters his mid-50s.
Sunday’s finale, played by Justice, was a display of a group in absolute command of their craft and crowd. The two Frenchmen, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, were two shadowed, alien silhouettes on stage who began strong and ended even stronger. Augé and Rosnay who are in their mid-40s and have been performing for 20-plus years were nothing short of superheroes on stage and were the absolute perfect end to a perfect weekend. Kilby Block Party 2025 you were truly a treat, and I hope to see you next year.
And the answer to my question? Yeah, these old guys can still rock.
