It was an electric night in 1990. MC Hammer had just hit it big and my girlfriends and I were among thousands of Hammer pants-wearing concert-goers walking – or at least trying to — into the old Salt Palace arena to watch the hip hop artist and his crew slide back and forth across the stage for two straight hours. “U Can’t Touch This” reverberated in my ears for a week afterwards.
This was a huge event for a teenage girl and her friends. Many concerts followed: Janet Jackson, Too $hort (don’t ask…), LL Cool J, Dan Folgenberg (hey, I grew up in Utah).
As a sixth-generation Utahn (my great-great-great-great-grandpa entered the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young), I appreciate the culture and heritage of the state I love. But, for a black person growing up here, diversity in culture, music, dance and visual arts was limited to a couple of places in Salt Lake and to our family homes.
That’s why I’m especially grateful for a few meaningful exceptions, like the Twilight Concert Series, which brings back memories of those concerts that helped expand my world.
I want to thank the Salt Lake City Arts Council for 30 years of curating weekly summertime concerts with diverse music that goes beyond commercial appeal to broaden people’s minds through access to thought-provoking and challenging art. It has meant so much to me to be able to hear Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, Cat Power and Solange — as well as many amazing up-and-coming local artists – in the city my family has called home for 170 years.
The 30th season of Twilight concerts ended a week ago Thursday with a fantastic two-hour set by The Roots. Bravo to the Salt Lake City Arts Council for another successful season!
Twilight has been immensely valuable to the “rising” of downtown by invigorating our nightlife, exposing residents to diverse cultural experiences, and sparking the imaginations of people young and old.
But, this year’s Twilight might be the last if city leaders decide the costs are too great to keep it going. Twilight simply costs much more to produce than it generates in ticket and sponsorship revenue. Ticket prices are deliberately kept low to allow access to people who might not be able to afford them, and I’d hate to see prices increase.
When I worked for former Mayor Ralph Becker, it became clear that annual subsidies for Twilight were growing and not sustainable in the long term. We searched to no avail to find solutions, such as spinning off Twilight to a nonprofit group, significantly downsizing it and finding an organization with deep pockets to fully or substantially underwrite it.
I know the answer to saving Twilight is out there, though, and I hope Mayor Jackie Biskupski and City Council members take up the challenge to find it. I want to see the concert series continue and I hope others show their support, too. As MC Hammer might say, Twilight is just “too legit to quit”!
Salt Lake City resident Nichol Bourdeaux is not too proud to admit that she still owns a well-worn pair of Hammer pants.