Update: Post Malone’s show at the RedWest Fest Saturday night has been delayed due to weather. Around 7:45 p.m., the festival shared on social media that the “forecast is looking optimistic.”
“Our production teams are currently assessing the status of our stages,” the festival shared in an Instagram post. “We will have another update soon.”
It’s a big night for music in Salt Lake City.
On Saturday, Benson Boone wraps up the North American leg of his “American Heart” tour with his third and final sold-out show at the Delta Center — the only venue on his massive tour where he’s playing three times.
At the same time, a little over a mile to the west at the Utah State Fairpark, another superstar with strong Utah ties is headlining the RedWest country music festival: Post Malone.
Boone and Malone, who both call Utah home at least part-time, are two of the biggest superstars based in the Beehive State.
Here’s a look at their ties to Utah — and what to expect from their Saturday night shows.
Benson Boone’s 3-night stint in Salt Lake City
Boone’s world tour sold out in a staggering nine seconds, but the demand was extra high in Salt Lake City.
The extra love the “Beautiful Things” singer is showing his Utah fans is fitting, as the state has played a meaningful part in his rapid rise to fame.
The music video for his breakthrough hit “Beautiful Things‚” which has over 800 million views on YouTube, was filmed in St. George. The singer also filmed the music video for the song “Mr. Electric Blue,” from his second album, in Utah, as the Deseret News reported.
Although he grew up in Washington state, a recent profile in Rolling Stone magazine notes that Boone has a home about 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City, in “a sharp-angled, industrial-gray luxury fortress with towering windows atop a cliff” that overlooks Utah Lake.
The Grammy-nominated artist has attended a few Utah Jazz games, rubbing shoulders with the Jazz Bear at the Delta Center.
Now, he is concluding his North American “American Heart” tour at that same venue.
And the thousands and thousands of fans at the Delta Center are cheering him on — loudly.
“Throughout the show, friends and families — particularly moms and their young daughters — seemed to be serenading each other as they sang along,” as I wrote after attending the first of three shows Wednesday night. “Sometimes, Boone being on the stage felt of secondary importance.
“The show often felt like a massive singalong, and it could sometimes be hard to hear Boone over the crowd. But there were moments when his vocals really cut through.
“While Boone has absolutely nothing to prove, he made a strong case for any of the doubters that his voice can stand on its own and that he’s a lot more than his flips (although there were also plenty of those).”
Post Malone headlines RedWest Fest
Post Malone calls Cottonwood Heights home — and has been vocal about his love for living in Utah.
“Moving here to this amazing state was one of the best things I’ve done in my life, besides have a baby girl,” Malone told his cheering fans at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre last fall, according to a video shared by Salt Lake-based country radio station The Bull on TikTok. “I moved to L.A. when I was a kid, and I was like, ‘Hey this is not kind of where I want to be.’ So I did a show here right on the Salt Flats, and I was like, ‘This place rocks.’ ... Like a week later we bought a house here. I gotta say, Utah is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and I’m so grateful and so honored to be a resident here, ladies and gentlemen.”
Six months ago, Malone kicked off his first stadium tour with a hometown show at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. While the show covered hits from throughout his career, it was when Malone performed country music from his latest album, “F-1 Trillion,” that the crowd really came to life, as the Deseret News reported.
That country music will be on full display at RedWest.
“Like Beyonce, Malone traded in his beats for boots with the release of his album ‘F-1 Trillion,’ marking his move into country. Onstage, he wove his new twang-heavy tracks into a set list that still honored the hits that built his name,” Madeline Thorpe wrote for Deseret News. “But when he leaned into the country, something shifted. The former SoundCloud artist seemed to come more alive.
“The crowd matched his energy, not just following along, but really leaning in — singing louder, kicking up dust and getting loose," Thorpe continued. “And though they still cheered for the decade of hip-hop, rock and rap anthems, it was the country songs that drew the loudest response.”