Local artists and musicians featured at Block Festival
Friday night at the Block Festival brought all sorts of different music to downtown Logan. From instrumental acoustic guitar sets at The Crepery to upbeat pop-influenced tunes at The Cache, there was something for everyone.
“What we’re trying to do is show that community can come together to celebrate independent vision and artistic expression,” said Mary Urban Clark, one of the Block Festival organizers.
The Block Festival wrapped up their third year Sept. 29. The festival used to be known as the Logan Film Festival and was started in 2011 by professor Alan Hashimoto and some of his students.
After Hashimoto died in 2012, students and festival organizers decided to keep the festival going as a way to honor Hashimoto’s memory and provide Cache Valley citizens an outlet for their art. Though showcasing local film was the original intent of the festival, The Block now includes film, visual art, music and learning workshops.
This year, the events mostly took place on and around the block of theaters in downtown Logan.
“There’s no other place in Utah that has, on one city block, four different theaters,” Urban Clark said.
In addition to film and visual art being presented at the block of theaters, musical events were held on Federal Avenue at live music venue WhySound as well as at The Cache and The Factory Pizzeria.
On Friday night, The Cache hosted groups PB&Mae, Stolen Stars and The Cronies. PB&Mae and The Cronies are groups local to Logan. Stolen Stars came all the way from Orem, Utah.
Lead singer and creator of PB&Mae, Mae Swainston, said PB&Mae’s style ranges from “Paramore to super old bluesy stuff.” The trio kicked off the night at The Cache, and provided easy to listen to songs, including one of Swainston’s most popular solo hits, “Pomegranate Promenade.”
Next up at The Cache was Orem duo Stolen Stars. The duo consists of Weston Paul, 22, and London Reid, 23. They brought the crowd to their feet with electronic sounding, almost beachy dance beats displayed in their song “The Cupid Caper.”
They were also able to slow everyone down and show the crowd their versatility during their set. At one moment toward the end of Stolen Star’s time, Paul grabbed an acoustic guitar, jumped down from the stage and joined the audience members on the floor for a quiet acoustic song before closing out the set.
Friday night at The Cache ended with Cache Valley natives The Cronies who debuted two songs at The Block. “All I Know” and “Love for Gold,” the two new songs, are expected to be included on the group’s upcoming album that the band is currently working on.
When lead singer Kendall Geertsen began to sing their new ballad “Love for Gold,” he gave the audience a small warning:
“This one will put you in your feels,” he said.
In addition to the new songs, The Cronies played their newest single “King of the World” and covered popular OneRepublic hit, “I Lived.”
Next door to The Cache at The Factory Pizzeria, local folk group Two Headed Trout opened the evening and were followed by Utah duo Kid Brother.
The main stage, located in the parking lot between The Waffle Iron and Great Harvest Bread on Center Street, had music from Reckless Uprising starting at 4 p.m. They were followed by Vintage Overdrive at 6 p.m. and The Blue Blazers closing the night at 8 p.m.
Away from the main stages, music and art experiences could be found in almost any of the surrounding restaurants or alleyways taken over by the festival for the weekend.
Mary Urban Clark plans to continue working with and helping to grow the festival, which she sees as an essential cultural movement for the community.
“We feel like we’re the proof of concept event that proves that downtown can be full of life and cultural events.”
For more information about The Block Festival, They can be found on Facebook or on their website at theblockfestival.org.
@allisonallreddd