No major festival ever starts its life as major. Eight years ago, Salt Lake City's beloved artist incubator Kilby Court decided it wanted to throw a party in the city's Granary District to celebrate its 20th anniversary, booking Death Cab for Cutie and a slew of local acts for the day-long event. After taking a single pandemic gap year, it has grown tirelessly, outgrowing the Granary District and its 2022 home in Library Square (a year headlined by Punisher-era Phoebe Bridgers and Mac DeMarco) on its way to its current home at Utah State Fairpark, on grounds that grow bit by bit every year.
With an expected 90,000 people in attendance across all three days, KBP7 felt bigger than ever. It's at a tipping point where most growing festivals either manage to maintain their identity, or lose their spark and fall into the trappings of the live music machine that puts profits over quality 99% of the time. Despite the presence of an arena-ready act like New Zealand's premier pop princess Lorde and Paramore singer Hayley Williams — acts huge enough that it could have pulled the festival into the darkness — Kilby in 2026 feels like an oversized version of that Granary District hootenanny eight years ago.
What was it like being there? Below, you'll get a taste of the best sights and atmospheres woven by the 70 acts that played this year. We hope to eat a dynamite corn dog with you in between sets next year.
Best Gigantic Moshpit
That honor belongs, as it was always going to, to the mighty Turnstile. Turnstile has grown into something fully removed from traditional hardcore, their rowdy roots remain intact, and as someone who grew up listening to hardcore music designed to be played in sweaty basements and DIY spaces, the idea of a hardcore band headlining a 30,000-capacity festival is downright awe-inspiring. Crowdsurfers rode the crowd's canopy like there was no tomorrow. The biggest moshpits in the hemisphere (at that moment, at least) churned, bruising and battering everybody caught inside the maelstrom. It was beautiful.
Live music is all about the thrill of connecting with others in a physical space, and the reality of that many bodies willingly throwing themselves into each other for the love of the sport was, frankly, life-affirming. Perhaps that's the reason for Turnstile's ascendancy: they offer the everyday concertgoer the ability to connect with an aggressive band that treats aggression as an ingredient, not as the main dish. We can only hope it inspires other heavy acts to join the 2027 lineup, safe knowing that whatever they bring to the table, Kilby audiences will eat it right up.
Best Supporting Moshpit
That's an easy one: 22-year-old hyperpop provocateur Jane Remover, whipping the midday Saturday Mountain Stage crowd into a frenzy that only tourmates Turnstile could really exceed. The scene from the barricade was borderline biblical, the crush of youngsters (and one very supportive mom) pushing into each other and crowdsurfing forming a multi-faced, multi-handed mass that showed only extreme joy. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, though; one Kilbyite could be spotted crocheting in the crowd as Jane flailed around the stage, though they later confessed that they dropped their yarn in the process. The yarn grind never stops, even in the moshpit.
Best “I Told Ya So!†Headliner
In the months leading up to Kilby, one thing was certain: somewhere, someone was talking about how The XX were “this year's Beach House†or, if they were less generous, “the nap zone.†Anyone who has heard the band's third album, I See You, or listened to producer Jamie XX's solo material knows, though, that the band that recorded “VCR†and “Shelter†knows how to start a damn party. The trio's control over aesthetics was impressive, managing to be captivating with a sparse light show and the band's most recognizable member tucked in the back, dimly lit as his bandmates share the spotlight.
Yes, “VCR†was still quiet as hell, a level of restraint perfect for a song they were dedicating to Donovan, an adult fan in the front row who started coming to XX shows when he was eight. “This is my first time seeing him as an adult!†said Sim, a mix of joy and shock on his face. The moment's serenity and intimacy were interrupted only by the drunken chatter of disrespectful concertgoers. For every stripped-back song, there was another waiting to get the crowd dancing, with relatively restrained songs like “Sunset†and “Islands†rendered as bangers to shake ass to. Beach House could never dream of compelling this degree of booty-shakin'.
Once the band entered a mid-section full of solo songs by Romy, Jamie, and Sim, things really started to cook. Romy's “Enjoy Your Life†found her dancing across the stage, embracing the chance to bring a little bit of Club Mid Air to the Salt Lake crowd, while Jamie's “Loud Places†and “Treat Each Other Right†made a case for a future headliner/sub-headliner set of his very own. Then again, Sim's taste of the spotlight did, too, especially when the video feed revealed that he had decided to perform “GMT†from his record Hideous Bastard from inside the crowd, dancing sweatily with the GA throngs. For someone whose stage presence is so restrained, watching him cut loose like that was almost shocking. As they rounded out their set with XX instrumental opener “Intro,†you could sense that thousands of people in the audience were mentally plotting to listen to Coexist and I See You the moment they got home.
Best Future Headliner
Exactly half an hour after the first bands on Friday started their sets, a crazed woman in a red dress was pretending to hide from her backup dancers. The hype surrounding Gelli Haha going into the weekend was immense, and within a few minutes, it was easy to see why. Much like fellow KBP7 act Magdalena Bay, Idaho-based artist Angel Abaya is one stagecraft budget upgrade away from total domination, employing common toys and household objects in a feverish performance that feels like an unintentionally sexy children's performer working things out, or like a Rachel Bloom character without the 20 layers of pithy self-awareness.
Yes, she did sing “Piss Artist,†a rambling track from debut Switcheroo about peeing in a jar at a party, but then she and her dancers did OK Go-levels of live trampoline choreography that made her ascendancy seem not just possible, but inevitable. Give it two years, and her stages will look like Magdalena Bay's.
Speaking of MagBay, it's only a matter of time before the beloved duo reaches the top of the bill, as well. Sunday's crowds were dominated by concertgoers dressed in ways emblematic of 2024's Imaginal Disk, from all-blue outfits to misty blue face paint over their eyes. This was my sixth time seeing the band and fourth time experiencing the Imaginal Mystery Tour, and every single time, their stagecraft gets more and more elaborate. Last year, they were the Kilby kickoff show to see, selling out the 2,500-capacity Complex effortlessly. Here, they're the band that plays before Hayley Williams and Blood Orange. Later this year, they'll support Williams on her hotly anticipated solo tour. See them before you have to see them in an arena.
Best Bad Weather Set
For the fourth year in a row, inclement weather descended on Salt Lake City, bringing rain to some of the Sunday afternoon and evening sets. It began during Magdalena Bay's truncated Imaginal Mystery Tour, but it was nowhere near the downpour that befell the early sets of Sunday ‘25 or the thunderstorms that threatened ‘24 and, famously, that nearly caused a Pavement cancellation in ‘23. (For a while, you could even buy an official “I Almost Died at the Pavement Show†t-shirt.)
It stopped midway through their set and stayed dry for Paramore singer Hayley Williams, but during Blood Orange's Lake Stage set, it returned and never stopped again. Luckily, it was just enough that, rather than being an obnoxious nuisance, it actually created the perfect mood for Sunday headliner Lorde, who was so undeterred by the weather that she still did what she does every night of her Ultrasound Tour: take her shoes and pants off and roll around on the ground while singing and talking to the audience.
We couldn't have anticipated what it would be like to listen to her introduce and sing “Liability†while half-naked in a rain puddle. Much like standing within 20 feet of her as she sang and danced around to Pure Heroine classic “Ribs,†though, it was actually incredibly cathartic to be rain-drenched and singing about how scary it feels getting old. Lorde's music often contains the unmistakable flavor of melancholy, and hearing all of it in the Salt Lake City drizzle made it all feel that much more magical. You can't pay for that kind of atmosphere.
Best Actor
Implausibly, the Saturday lineup offered two opportunities to spend time watching screen actors playing music, either as a headliner or as a backing member. First, it was the Mountain Stage with FIGHTMASTER, aka E.R. Fightmaster, best known as Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Kai Bartley, Lolly Adefope's partner Em on the final season of Shrill or in last year's criminally underrated Sorry, Baby.
For anyone who walked away from the set thinking, “That was great, I loved all of the sapphic yearning going on in that arena, but I need to watch someone whose face can be found on Spencer's Gifts t-shirts playing bass,†Ben Kweller was there to rescue you. Next to the “Sha Sha†singer, bedecked in pink hair and a Steppenwolf shirt, was Christopher Mintz-Plasse, better known as McLovin' in the teen hit Superbad and as Red Mist in the whip-smart superhero gem Kick Ass. The crowd was kind enough not to shout “MCLOVIN'!†at him, though many clearly thought it repeatedly.
Best Supporting Actor
By the end of Saturday, this category seemed like a lock: four songs into Lucy Dacus' evening set, stagehands brought out an opulent blue couch for the Boygenius singer to lounge on while doing a duet of “Bullseye' with XX singer Romy, promising to do her best Hozier impression.
But then, near the end of American Football's Mountain Stage performance, the band played their outstanding LP3 track “Uncomfortably Numb,†their backup singer replaced temporarily by the song's original co-singer, Ms. Williams herself. The Mountain crowd went berserk. It clearly meant something to her, too; as she left the stage, she turned around to hug singer Mike Kinsella from behind, his sweet grin visible to anyone in the arena.
Even Williams would have paled in comparison to the possibility of an appearance by Charli XCX, who was rumored to be in SLC the day of Lorde's performance, but as the night drained away, that tabloid item turned into a running joke with festivalgoers. Maybe next year!
Worst Double-Booking
Midway through Quadeca's Desert Stage set, in the quiet between songs, an Alex G song wafted through the air. “Oh, I love that song! FUCK!†shouted Quadeca himself, clearly actually a little frustrated, as the prolific songwriter played “Afterlife†across the Fairpark. He was many of us in that moment: what are you supposed to do when two great acts play at the same time? How do you prioritize? There are no right answers.
The worst is when the right answer still feels wrong. Sunday seemed out for blood by putting buzzy indie rockers Flipturn's Kilby Stage set on at the same time as emo lifers American Football at Mountain Stage. The late-set appearance of Hayley Williams only added insult to injury for those who watched Flipturn as they attempted to get a decent crowd spot for Williams' own set. Later, Williams would siphon willing fans of Wild Nothing, performing Gemini in its entirety at the same time as her Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party showcase. These conflicts are unavoidable when you go to a music festival with overlapping sets, but Quadeca's “FUCK!†had been felt repeatedly by any Kilbyite as they made their weekend schedule.
Best Surprise
Unofficially, the answer to this question is Gelli Haha again, whose set was significantly better than anticipated. That said, including her here feels wrong, purely because it wasn't surprising at all — based on the hype, at least — that it was a kickass set. This year's biggest actual surprise was Norwegian electronic duo Smerz, whose funky, infectious and deadpan songs about big city life had me wondering, “How did I not already know and love this band?†They were a replacement for Nilufer Yanya, and I'm thankful the switch had to happen because Smerz is just too damn interesting.
Best Physicality
In a different world, Turnstile, its members frequently airborne (along with their mic stands), would win this category handily. Yet, a group of women from Texas had them beat before happy hour. Have you ever watched a musician walk onstage with their hands? Die Spitz bassist Kate Halter did just that, doing a handstand as she entered the Desert Stage and letting the momentum carry her onwards. Later, frontperson Ava Schrobilgen would be found shredding while doing a backbend or crouching on a stage monitor. Die Spitz are a killer act, but much like similarly flavored British punks Lambrini Girls, the ability to watch the things they do while they're playing elevates the whole package.
Best First Timer
This honor should rightfully go to Ben Kweller, if we were actually being fair. Tucked away on Desert Stage, the Kweller renaissance deserves to be given all the credit it deserves – his recent tour with the Format was a smashing success, and his recent album, Cover the Mirrors, written about the death of his teen son, is such a beautiful tribute that made his performance feel all the more cathartic. Plus, his band deserves bonus points for his guitarist/keyboardist wearing a Mary's Club shirt.
And yet, despite the fact that it feels like a dirty technicality, the winner here is Hayley Williams. The love for the once-and-future Paramore singer is massive, but as she opened with “Mirtazapine,†you could tell that there was an edge of nervousness behind her performance. “It's baby's first festival!†she confessed a few songs in, and as the crowd cheered wildly, you could feel the nerves melting away. Can you blame her? This was the first day to come close to selling out completely, packed with concertgoers who came here specifically because they couldn't get tickets to see her as a headliner at her own show. It made the crowd massive in a way few people are prepared for when they're here to see you, rather than your band. Once she'd gotten comfortable, though, you'd never guess she'd never held her own in this capacity before. It felt totally natural. I can't wait to see how she handles it at future festivals, like All Things Go later this year. By then, I'm sure it'll feel like any other day to her.
Best Banter
Early on, the answer was Brendan Yates of Turnstile's demand of “PICK UP YOUR FRIENDS! SEND ‘EM UP TO US!†but Sunday's Mustard Service appearance took the cake. After one song, frontperson Marco Rivero Ochoa announced, “This one is called ‘Accidentally in Love,' and it's from the Shrek 2 soundtrack.†It was a joke, but for the remainder of the set, every song was also introduced as the Counting Crows classic. Finally, to close out their set, they finally played “Accidentally in Love†from the Shrek 2 soundtrack — of which Ochoa lovingly bungled the lyrics. It didn't matter. The crowd's cheers of elation and recognition were too huge to matter how good the cover actually was.
Best Deviation From the Norm
Last year at Bumbershoot Music Festival in Seattle, drag artist Pattie Gonia riled up a late-night crowd with an exquisitely unhinged DJ set/drag showcase/environmentalist rally, complete with giant inflatable globes. This year, Pattie brought out an armada of SLC queens to do a very similar routine at Mountain Stage, though without the globes. Pattie is one of the most charismatic and eco-conscious queens on the scene today, and in a state like Utah, throwing a big gay mini-party feels so radical, you have to be there for it.
Best Food Choice
The answer is, was, and always will be World's Best Corn Dogs. If I could have eaten Blue Iguana enchiladas (sadly not a part of the festival vendor list – for now) and the WBCD every day of the fest, I would have, doctor's orders be damned. At $12, it's a honey-drizzled joy worth double that fare.
Best of the Worst
Has to be the smokers and the chompers. The amount of flagrant cigarette smoking in crowds and disrespectful audiences yappin' their way through great sets felt out of control this year. At one point, deep into the crowd waiting between Hayley Williams and Lorde, I asked someone to “Please not smoke a cigarette here,†and was greeted with all of the politeness and understanding you'd expect from Donald Trump's America, complete with being told “It's a free country, you're at a festival, deal with it,†and that there's no difference between cigarette smoke and vape smoke. At least the chatters were often receptive to being asked to shut up; when I asked two women during the XX to take their conversation elsewhere, they quickly admitted that they really should shut up, and that they'd just gotten drunkenly carried away.
If those two women are reading this: you're amazing. If the guy with the cigarette is reading this: I'm glad your cigarette got rained on. You deserved it.
Also, though it's not within the control of the Kilby apparatus, the Utah Transit Authority did not meaningfully extend or expand its transit services at the end of each day, which was borderline irresponsible. One of the great perks of Kilby admission is that UTA ridership is totally free, but out of the three nights I attended, I was only able to use it once — each night, the packed platforms and sardine can light rail cars prevented me from even wanting to bother to cram my non-svelte frame into the tangle of bodies that arrived every 20-30 minutes. The one time I did use it, I rode two stops backwards and boarded at a different platform. Riders should not have to juke the system to use public transit, especially when the alternative is an overpriced rideshare car that may or may not just cancel on you because you're not worth their time.
For a festival with 30,000 daily attendees, you would think Salt Lake City would be invested in ensuring their safe and reasonable delivery home, but for a city that's more welcoming and tourist-friendly than you might think, its public transit fell miles short of being the ambassadors to SLC they should be. Please do better, UTA!
Best One-Time Interaction
This is a nebulous one, but when it happened, it was obvious that it had to make it into this post-mortem. On Saturday night, as the XX played “Night Time,†the woman in front of me turned around and asked, “Can you believe how surreal our lives are right now? Can you believe we all get to be here?†I'd never spoken to the woman before, but she was right. Kilby Block Party is such a special place because it takes acts as intimate and special as the XX and elevates them into demigods on the level of massive rock bands and pop stars, capable of enthralling tens of thousands of people with monochromatic basslines and whispered, deeply homoerotic vocals.
The crowds are reliably extremely nice and ready to discover new bands, thrilled to walk away indebted to acts they'd never heard of 24 hours prior. Even in the dark, there was a visible shimmer of joy in that woman's eyes. She was right: we were in a totally different world than our everyday lives, and as the 25,000-person crowd gyrated and bounced to Romy commanding the stage with “Enjoy Your Life,†the word “surreal†felt like it barely covered it.
