By McKinsleigh Smith
Every time the latest wave of Provo musicians moves beyond our beloved Sound Town to national tours and millions of streams (we’re looking at you Backseat Lovers and Citizen Soldier) a part of me gets a little worried that we’ve lost something irreplaceable. Maybe it’s the hipster in me, but I always get a little jealous when local bands blow up and then I have to share them with the world. I worry I won’t have the chance to be at ground zero for an incredible act like them again.
But then stuff like tonight happens, and I remember that I live in motherh*ckin Provo, Utah. Of course I’ll be a perpetual hipster. There’s always young blood that’s talented enough to keep the scene moving forward in big ways, like selling out the latest concert venue to open in downtown Provo: The Rise’s new location on Center Street.
HXLA, CAYSN, and Gage Dancin are coming together for a night of polished, energetic, and fresh new music for a standing room only local crowd.
HXLA (pronounced Hex-La) crafts energetic, neo pop punk that would make Travis Barker proud. While still in his early days, he already has the honor of being the youngest act to ever play Louder Than Life music festival in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2023, the 4-day rock festival welcomed 180,000 patrons, and HXLA played the same day as massive acts like Green Day, Queens of the Stone Age, Awolnation, and more.
CAYSN is a Utah Clean act in the same vein as great bands like Backseat Lovers, Cardinal Bloom, Sage Lane, and recent Velour Battle of the Bands finalists Afternoon All Night. Led by the charismatic, charmingly-and-chronically Gen Z frontman Caysen Wright, they played WONDRLAND this summer and made waves on TikTok with their song “Lost In Your Love,” which has received hundreds of thousands of spins. Literally spins.
Gage Dancin takes the same Utah Clean tones and chills them out and adds a little soul. He feels like a spirit brother to greats like John Mayer and Shawn Mendes, and can make the ladies swoon in equal measure. Homie has nearly 500,000 followers on TikTok, largely built by posting videos of him impressing the chicas on Omegle (RIP) with his smooth vocals and pop hooks. “it’s hard to stop loving” is fire.
While the show is sold out, you never know how the crowd will ebb and flow in a college town, so you might be able to get in at the door. Doors open at The Rise tonight at 6:30 PM and music starts at 7:30 PM. Make sure to check out “Cherry Chapstick” by HXLA below!