GreyDay Tour 2023

Grey Day tours are a once a year concert featuring $uicideboy$ along with other artists as special guests. Last year Salt Lake witnessed a performance from $not and Ski Mask the Slump God. The 2023 tour was followed by $uicideboy$ Yin Yang Tapes releases in May, a new EP that debuted each week. Each EP was named after one of the four seasons and consists of four songs each. This year included over forty shows across the country, one being at SLC’s own Delta Center. The tour had a lineup to remember featuring Ghostemane, City Morgue, Freddie Dredd, Ramirez and Sematary. All of which will be gone over in this review.

You haven’t seen enough black clothing until you’ve attended a Grey Day tour. The audience truly knows how to make a statement, both with appearance and voice. The stadium was filled with over ten thousand eclectic people, all showing their passion for music. The lights were beaming to different artists and songs, creating a perfectly chaotic atmosphere. The stage felt as though it was taken from a scary movie. A ghoulish feeling ascended as flames rose up, graves marked everywhere, with a frame of giant moving skeleton arms and glowing eyes.

“I like these artists because it feels like they turned a horror movie into music” -Camille W.

“Open up the pit and follow that f***ing banana” -Scrim

The New Orleans duo known as $uicideboy$ have been coming to Salt Lake since they started making music. They opened with a banger, Not Even Ghosts are This Empty. The crowd took quickly to Scrim and Ruby da Cherry, people were moshing in the pit and all their fans were screaming lyrics to their songs. They interacted well with the audience sharing wholesome moments and joking around. A personal favorite of mine was when they performed Paris. Scrim and Ruby have dealt with much suffering, which can be seen through their musical outlet. Withing their music, the duo focuses heavily on their battle with drug addiction and suicidal thoughts. Near the end of the concert, they had a heartfelt moment relating to the crowd. They expressed that in times of struggle, to allow others to help-or not much will change.

Ghostmane hopped straight into a hype beat by performing Fed Up. He didn’t do much talking though he was very active in performance, jumping around on stage and giving the crowd his iconic ghostly scream. He was the only artist that played an instrument other than his voice, and shredded the electric guitar. He got the mosh pit into action and it was a clear crowd favorite when he performed Trenchcoat.

City Morgue brought an ambitious mood to the stadium. The duo was bopping around all sides of the stage and boosting the audience up. The intense music definitely gave the pit something to mosh about. Although I did not know most of their music going in, they did play my favorite song Space Cowboy. They had a special moment when they grieved for their friend who committed suicide with a mashup of dedicated songs.

The best way to describe Freddie Dredd’s music would be phonk-a subgenre of hiphop inspired by 90s Memphis rap. This rap artist’s beats are heavily based on his samples from bossa nova, video games and anime; whereas his lyrics aren’t as upbeat, showing themes of pain and anger. I appreciated the amount of lyrics he sang live as some rappers let the playback do most of the work. He gave a lively set as he “Cha Cha”d across the brightly lit green stage. Before Dredd passed the mic to City Morgue, he left us with the song GTG.

An underrated rap artist by the name of Ramirez definitely knows how to work with a crowd, and had everyone’s hands up high in the air during his performance. His high energy can be seen throughout as he pays tribute to his record label alongside $uicideboy$ shouting “Grey 59” with the audience. The song with the most hype was Mystikal Warlock as he was joined by Scrim and Ruby on stage. He truly has a power when it comes to the rasp he brings to his voice. The Gorillas (fanbase name) made sure he felt their love.

The opening act of this lovely tour was Semetary; let’s just say they weren’t a crowd favorite. Overall, this concert was a highlight of spooky activities. After all, what better time to see these artists than in the month of October. Each artist shares a unique message through their music, mostly pertaining to mental health awareness. The audience truly enjoyed the experience of this night, music, lights, props and all. $uicideboy$ even mentioned that this performance made their top five favorite shows, Salt Lake City sure knows how to elevate any concert scene.