The 10 best shows I saw in 2019

Elton John performs at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

A lot of great music made its way to Utah in 2019. Here are my 10 highlights — performances that stuck with me long past the final bow.

SALT LAKE CITY — Creating a top 10 shows of 2019 list wasn’t an easy task, and I’m going to be honest: I’m leaving off some really good stuff.

Like Hugh Jackman dazzling as the “Greatest Showman” and Sting performing a benefit concert for Zion National Park, which celebrated its centennial in November.

I didn’t get to see Bob Seger when he rolled into Salt Lake City on his farewell tour, or R&B legend Booker T. Jones.

A lot of great music made its way to Utah in 2019. Here are my 10 highlights — performances that stuck with me long past the final bow.

Jan. 19 — Utah Opera’s ‘The Little Prince’

I’m an opera newbie. The first opera I ever attended — very hesitantly, I might add — was Utah Opera’s production of “La Boheme” in October 2017, on assignment for the Deseret News.

I’ve attended every opera the company has produced since then. “The Little Prince,” based on Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s novella, is hands down the best thing I’ve seen in my two years of going to the opera. (It’s also the only opera my husband has watched all the way through without falling asleep).

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Nitai Fluchel, 11, playing the little prince, and Melanie Ashkar, playing the fox, pose during a photo opportunity for Utah Opera’s upcoming production of “The Little Prince” at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.

Everything about this opera was great: the music from award-winning film composer Rachel Portman (“Chocolat”), the set design, costumes, children’s chorus and, of course, the 11-year-old boy soprano from the Madeleine Choir School taking on the big role.

And then there’s the sweet message of childlike wonder at the heart of it all. It’s a simple story that leaves a lasting impression.

March 29 — Utah Symphony’s ‘New World Symphony’

“New World Symphony” never gets old. Just ask Neil Armstrong: The astronaut brought a tape recording of Dvorak’s popular 19th-century symphony along for the Apollo 11 ride, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in July.

I grew up listening to “New World Symphony” (it was on a tape of classical music my dad made for me). I revisit the piece a lot, and with each listen, a different moment will bring me to tears. During the Utah Symphony’s stirring performance at Abravanel Hall, it was the second movement that blurred my vision.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Thierry Fischer, music director of the Utah Symphony, conducts during a practice session at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.

And that’s the power of “New World Symphony.” A passage you’ve heard countless times before will suddenly stand out. Each listen brings something new, making each performance of the piece an exciting discovery.

May 29 — Joe McQueen’s 100th B-day bash

I knew the concert honoring Joe McQueen’s 100th birthday was going to be special. I just didn’t think it would be the last birthday McQueen would celebrate, because even at 100 years old, the musician kept a busy performing schedule and never showed signs of slowing down.

McQueen was a jazz legend — a pioneering saxophonist who grew up in Oklahoma and made Utah his home in 1945. In May, he celebrated a century of life by wearing a custom-made Utah Jazz jersey with the number 100 on it, eating cake and playing hits like Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” on his brand-new gold saxophone.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Saxophone player Joe McQueen, still going strong as he nears his 99th birthday. Joe plays a tune on his horn at his Ogden home on Saturday, May 26, 2018. McQueen passed away at the age of 100 on Dec. 7, 2019.

McQueen was loved in Utah — the high turnout to his birthday concert at Salt Lake City’s Gallivan Center indicates that. The tenor saxophonist died on Dec. 7 — the very day he and his wife of 75 years, Thelma, arrived in Utah, according to McQueen’s longtime friend Brad Wheeler.

I’m grateful McQueen gave this concert, which took place the day before his 100th birthday. It gave me the chance to not only listen to some great jazz but to also celebrate a truly incredible life.

June 14 — Tab Benoit

The year 2019 will always be remembered as the year I discovered Tab Benoit, a blues guitarist from the swamps of Louisiana who performs like there’s no tomorrow.

Except tomorrow always comes, and Benoit steps on stage to sing and play the blues all over again, breaking a string or two along the way. This guy lives for music.

Lottie Johnson, Deseret News

Tab Benoit performs at the Utah Blues Festival on Friday, June 14, 2019.

I first caught Benoit — and one of his guitar strings — at the Utah Blues Festival. I had gone with my husband and parents to see Canadian blues singer-guitarist Sue Foley, one of my dad’s longtime favorites (she did not disappoint). Benoit was the last act of the night, and he took the stage with a funky shirt and a fire in his soul.

As my mom puts it, Benoit playing his guitar is on a level with Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling — it’s a true work of art. I got to see Benoit again in September, when he played at the Commonwealth Room. It was just as magical the second time around.

Based on his track record, Benoit will be back soon. Believe me: This is a show you won’t want to miss.

June 28 — Jamestown Revival

In the spirit of full disclosure, Jamestown Revival is my favorite band. No one does harmonies like Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, friends-turned-bandmates who grew up in the small town of Magnolia, Texas.

Jamestown Revival visits Utah a lot — the band spent two weeks recording its first album in the Wasatch Mountains and named it “Utah,” after all. I’ve seen the Americana/folk-rock duo five times now and, somehow, each concert is better than the one before.

Paul Pryor

Longtime friends Jonathan Clay (left) and Zach Chance front the band Jamestown Revival. The band performed at the Commonwealth Room in Salt Lake City on June 28, 2019.

The fifth time was this past summer at a packed Commonwealth Room, where Clay and Chance stood close together at their mics and sang their hearts out. The band is relatively new — the debut record released in 2014 — but the crowd knew and sang along to every word, adding its own harmonies to the mix.

That enthusiasm makes it hard to believe only a handful of people showed up to the first show Jamestown Revival ever did in Utah. But the band has steadily built a strong following here, and I look forward to seeing the musicians for the sixth time, when they visit the Commonwealth Room on March 17.

July 9 — Avett Brothers

Over 20 years, brothers Scott and Seth Avett have risen from performing in dive bars to headlining Madison Square Garden. It’s a remarkable trajectory when you consider the musicians’ humble start on a family farm in Concord, North Carolina.

I’ve been trying to see the Avett Brothers for years, but the band’s shows in Utah sell out fast and I’ve never been able to get tickets. But 2019 was my lucky year because the brothers brought their raw lyrics and harmonies to USANA Amphitheatre, a venue that can seat 20,000 people.

I knew high-energy songs like “Ain’t No Man” and “High-Steppin’” would easily fill the vast amphitheater space, but what was most impressive to me was how on softer songs like “I Wish I Was,” the crowd got so quiet that the brothers’ tight harmonies seemed to hang still in the air.

I went with my sister-in-law — it was also her first time seeing the Avett Brothers — and it’s the first time I’ve gone out of my way to buy an actual seat close to the stage rather than a cheaper spot out on the lawn.

It was worth every penny.

Sept. 4 — Elton John

I’m not sure what was more fun: Watching Elton John or watching my mom watch Elton John. John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, which extends through 2021, marks the end of a legendary career spanning several generations.

“I don’t want to go out with a whimper. I want to go out with a bang,” he said during a press conference announcing the tour. “It’ll be the most produced, fantastic show I’ve ever done.”

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elton John stands and gestures out at the audience as he performs at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019.

He meant every word of that, delivering to his fans in Salt Lake City a nearly three-hour production that started with “Bennie and the Jets” and ended with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” At 72, John’s voice — while noticeably lower — was strong, his energy never fading and his piano abilities out of this world as he launched into lengthy solos on hits like “Rocket Man” and “Levon.”

At the end of the concert, John stepped onto a platform that carried him up and out of sight. A large screen onstage continued John’s exit, showing the performer strolling away, down an animated yellow brick road.

It was a reminder that, as well-deserved as John’s retirement may be, the world is losing a masterful live performer.

Sept. 14 — ‘Fly More Than You Fall’

This was the day I was supposed to see Kiss in concert. It would’ve been my first time seeing the band, but on Friday the 13th, Gene Simmons tweeted that Kiss would have to postpone its show at USANA Amphitheatre so he could have a medical procedure done in Los Angeles (the show has since been rescheduled for Sept. 24, 2020).

Sept. 14 was apparently a big day for Utah’s entertainment scene, because I had two great options to fill the Kiss void: I could review Carrie Underwood at Vivint Arena or review a new, Broadway-bound musical at Utah Valley University.

Jenny Brown, UVU Marketing

Autumn Best as Willow and Lexi Walker as Malia in “Fly More Than You Fall,” a Broadway-bound production that ran at UVU’s Noorda Center for the Performing Arts in September 2019.

I chose the musical, and that may very well be one of the best decisions I made this year. “Fly More Than You Fall” is a powerful production about a teenager coping with her mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis, and in an age of reboots, this musical’s originality was refreshing.

“I don’t know a single other story (on Broadway) that’s dealt with a child losing a parent, or for that matter, grief,” the musical’s writer, Eric Holmes, previously told the Deseret News. “It’s a topic most musicals shy away from. … Something that should be talked about more.”

Let’s hope “Fly More Than You Fall” makes it to Broadway, because even though the story hadn’t been told until this year, it’s a story far too many people have lived.

Oct. 7 — Audra McDonald

It’s easy to see why Audra McDonald has earned the most Tony Awards of any actor or actress. The Broadway star is as much a storyteller as she is a soprano, infusing every word of a song with such feeling that watching her perform onstage is like watching a drama unfold on the big screen.

I was leaning forward in my seat, hanging on McDonald’s every note during her concert at UVU’s new Noorda Center for the Performing Arts. Even near the back of the auditorium I could see her expressive faces — the nuances that added to an already mesmerizing performance.

Allison Michael Orenstein

Broadway star Audra McDonald performed at UVU’s Noorda Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 7 and 8, 2019.

I still get emotional when I think about that concert. From belting “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” to performing her signature “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess” to softly singing “I’ll Be Here,” a tribute to those who lost loved ones during 9/11, McDonald gave it her all. She held nothing back, and her heartfelt performance reminded me of the transformative power of music.

Nov. 12 — Ray LaMontagne

It’s a surreal moment when you finally see a musician you’ve listened to for several years in concert for the first time. It’s even more surreal when that musician is Ray LaMontagne.

LaMontagne is an extremely private person, a folk singer who rarely gives interviews, used to write songs in a self-built cabin with no electricity or running water, and has even performed from the side of the stage because he’s not a fan of the spotlight.

But he sings like an angel. Hearing his raspy voice in person at a beautiful venue like the Eccles Theater — as opposed to listening to him on a CD or on YouTube — was magical. He sounded just as good as he does on CD, but watching him get lost in the music that has brought me so much happiness over the years took the performance to the next level.

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