Red Butte's a hot ticket this summer

A new ampitheater, paired with a strong musical lineup, could make finding tickets for Red Butte concerts challenging.

Already, almost a half-dozen of the 15 shows for the Red Butte Garden concert series have sold out, even before sales opened up to the general public. Those include David Byrne, Death Cab for Cutie, Diana Krall, Chris Isaak and the double-billing of Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal.

Others are also generating a lot of excitement, both for the music series and, just as important, the garden itself, said Chris Mautz, concert series promoter. In fact, this year he said that a lot of the people buying tickets are members who may have joined for the music a few years ago but have stayed for everything else.

"The garden has really been pleased with the growing support of the concert series, and with all of the programs going at the garden," he said. "The concerts are one component of the many cool things, but it's great to see how popular it is."

As with previous years, the garden lineup includes a mix of returning favorites, veteran headliners and rising stars. But it has also grown in a way that fits its new amphitheater, which opened last year to rave reviews.

Most notably, the series has expanded to 15 shows, up from the 12 scheduled in previous years. It is also spreading the concerts over the entire summer, whereas last year they had to pack their shows into a two-month window because of the construction.

Another change is the elimination of half-season packages. Instead, people can either buy tickets to individual shows or purchase a package for the entire season.

While Mautz said "it's not about the act, it's about the series as a whole," he did highlight a few artists whom he was excited to have come through this summer.

One of those is Chicago, which Mautz said is remembered mostly for their soft ballads but really delivers a show that leans heavily on R&B and funk. He also pointed to Bonnie Raitt, who is playing with Taj Mahal after two successful shows last year.

"It's a nice mark, to have a world-class, historic, phenomenal performer who wants to return to play the garden," he said.

As for musical skills, it will probably be tough to top the Femi Kuti show, which actually has Bela Fleck and Toumani Diabate as the opening act.

"This duo (Fleck and Diabate) is going to get out there and put you in awe of just pure musicianship," he said. "Then there will be this musical force with Femi Kuti … what a contrast."

As always, there are also a couple of up-and-coming acts headlining. This year, those include Neko Case, Death Cab for Cutie and the Avett Brothers.

"Those are shows that will bring a nice vibe into the garden that is important to us," he said.

Rounding out the lineup will be returning favorites, such as Chris Isaak, who is supporting his first album of new material in seven years, Etta James, the Indigo Girls, and The Brotherhood Tour featuring Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys.

If you go . . . .

What: Neko Case and Joey & John of Calexico

When: May 31, 7 p.m.

Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheater, 300 Wakara Way

How much: $30

Phone: 801-585-0556

Web: www.redbuttegarden.org

E-MAIL: jloftin@desnews.com