The Complex
Salt Lake City, Utah
May 26th, 2023
By Molly McCoy
As a kick off to memorial day weekend, Valley brought their “Lost In Translation Tour” to Salt Lake City on Friday, May 26th. Fans were lined up down the block and waiting anxiously for the doors to open so they could go inside and finally see Valley again. Despite it being an extra long weekend because of the holiday, fans showed up to the show as the venue was packed.
Adian Bassett was up first, he has a great stage presence and you can easily tell how much fun he and his fellow band members are having on stage. He played a great mix of songs that have already been released while also playing a fair share of new ones yet to come out. He definitely built excitement as one of his new songs, “Sick of It”, which had such clever lyrics and was very catchy had the crowd singing along with him at the end.
I was very impressed with how talkative Adian was with the crowd. He read people’s signs and would joke with whomever brought it. He even took a fans’ BeReal while on stage. Even though this was my first time hearing Aidan Bassetts music it was obvious that wasn’t the case for many in the crowd, when he announced that he would be playing his song “20 something” the crowd erupted into cheers and sang along loudly.
After a short wait the lights went down and the bottom of the stage lit up in sync with the beat of the music. Excitement built as fans would randomly cheer waiting for Valley to come on stage. They started with their popular song “There’s Still a Light In The House” and the crowd sang along as each band member took the stage.
Rob, the lead singer of the band, had so much energy that the entire night he would move from side to side and dance around the stage. He stopped for a while to talk to the crowd, Valley has been to Utah around 4 times at this point. They came twice while being openers for other bands, and now twice being the headliners. He even told the crowd that they would be back soon once their “Lost in Translation” actually comes out, he added, “we’ve just missed you too much to wait and to tour again.”
From the moment they went on stage to the moment they left fans were zoned in on the show. During the song “Good But Not Together” fans brought out their flash flights and swayed together as the song was performed. One of my favorite moments in the show was when they played “Phone Call to Amsterdam”. At this point Rob went to the back of the stage and sang into a cord phone that was coming from the top of part of their stage setup. He sang the beginning of the song before coming back to the front of the stage to finish the song. It was a super creative introduction to a fan favorite song.
While this tour is coming to an end, their new album, Lost In Translation, comes out on June 23rd. If you haven’t heard of Valley yet, now is the time to start listening. Their live shows are like spending an evening dancing and singing with hundreds of your best friends and their music could be the perfect soundtrack to your summer adventures.
