The Gateway to Host Last Hurrah, Downtown Salt Lake City’s Biggest New Year’s Eve Celebration
Downtown Salt Lake City’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza returns to The Gateway with a free celebration for revelers of all ages. Presented by The Gateway, Downtown Alliance, and The Blocks, this year’s event kicks off at 8:00 p.m. Two stages will feature live performances and karaoke leading up to a fireworks spectacle at midnight. Outdoor pop-up bars serving adult libations and hot chocolate are designed to add flavor and spirit to the festivities. Come in from the cold to enjoy indoor activities and Gateway merchants who are extending their hours for the evening. The Blocks will provide Buskers throughout the event while karaoke is offered on the 100 South stage.
“We’ve put together another sensational program for the community to ring in 2023 with Salt Lake City’s biggest New Year’s Eve Party,” says Jacklyn Briggs, The Gateway’s Marketing Director. “There is a great musical lineup to complement our vibrant holiday lights and installations, and many of our merchants will be open late to accommodate revelers. It all culminates when we light up the downtown sky with a tremendous fireworks display.”
The three acts on the main stage at Olympic Plaza include DJ Jared, Future.exboyfriend, and headlining band The Moss.
Opening: DJ Jared
DJ Jared has been heard on the Salt Lake radio waves for over 18 years and an event DJ for even longer. He has entertained crowds in Boston, Las Vegas, and the Bay Area. He can’t wait to warm up The Gateway crowd this New Year’s Eve.
Opening Band: Future.exboyfriend
Hailing from the high desert mountains of Utah, future.exboyfriend is the powerhouse trio Tyler Harris, Isaac Paul, and Josh Arena. Blending elements of disco, funk, alternative, indie, psych, and pop – the charmed group has quickly gained recognition in their less than two years together. In late 2022, future.exboyfriend will be releasing their debut album, High At The Gym, a masterfully curated collection of songs that’s a tidal wave of pop flourishes, dancing falsetto melodies, and tight percussive grooves.
Headliner: The Moss
In a musical landscape with fewer boundaries than ever before, The Moss’s exuberant brand of alternative rock spans genres, eras, and even oceans.
The Utah-via-Hawaii group was born on the shores of Oahu in 2015, as teenage buddies Tyke James (vocals/guitar) and Addison Sharp (guitar) picked up a gig serenading diners at local taco trucks in between surf sessions. Naturally, their songs took shape in the spirit of the island, imbued with the joyfulness and breeziness of reggae culture yet cut with the introspection and communal spirit of mainland indie acts like Pinegrove and Cage the Elephant.
By 2018, the duo grew, enlisting Willie Fowler on drums and Addison’s brother Brierton on bass, and traded in beaches for the Great Salt Lake. They hit the stage at spots like local cornerstone Kilby Court, live-testing their modern-indie-meets-’60s-blues with a wide-eyed exuberance that translated effortlessly into their 2019 self-released debut, Bryology.
Colored by the sound of Stratocasters jamming through reverb-cranked Fender amps, all backed by bouncy rhythms, Bryology marked a big step for the still-young quartet – but, true to The Moss’s nature, was still hard-coded with a DIY ethos.
The follow-up, 2021’s Kentucky Derby, brought a more aspirational, blue-sky tilt to the foundation they’d laid on Bryology, expanding the group’s sonic arsenal while keeping the relatable lyrical style and sun-soaked sentiment at the forefront.
