In a slew of amazing festival lineups for 2026, Kilby Block Party stands as the pinnacle for indie lovers. Originating from the famous Salt Lake City music festival, what began as a one-day celebration in 2019 has grown into a must-see event for fans of live music. This year’s festival takes place on May 15-17, 2026 and features headliners Lorde, The Xx, Turnstile, and Hayley Williams— looking deeper at the festival acts, here are 5 acts that should be catching your attention.

Hotline TNT

This New York-based band has maximized the amount of rhythm and melody you can pack into a shoegaze band. Blending catchy vocal runs and ‘wall-of-sound’ style guitar, frontman Will Anderson (who originally started Hotline TNT as a solo project in 2018) has amassed a strong following of fans that proudly stand with this concoction of sound, hallmarked by their 2023 breakout album Cartwheel. If you’re looking to check out their music before their performance at KBP, you may want to check out a record store… the band decided to pull all of their music from Spotify in August 2025 (their Audiotree sessions are still available to listen to via streaming)

Show Me The Body

Show Me The Body is a punk/hardcore band making their way to KBP from New York City. SMTB’s expansive sound provides a lot for listeners, going from entrancing melodies on choruses from ‘Spit’, to growling riffs on ‘Arcanum’, and bouncing around to fast-paced punk on ‘Madonna Rocket’, all while having total control of the crowd. Besides Turnstile, THIS is the act you’ll want to see if you’re a fan of mosh pits. This will be SMTB’s first stop on their tour before trekking around the west coast before making their way to Europe this summer.

Die Spitz

If you’ve stayed in tune with the rock/punk scene in the past few years, you’ve definitely seen the name Die Spitz tossed around at least a few times. The Austin Texas-based band thrives on the chaos that they create with their anthem punk riffs, best shown on ‘Throw Yourself To The Sword’, ‘RIDING WITH MY GIRLS’, and ‘Hair of Dog’. Lead singer Ava Schrolbilgen exhausts all of her angst and energy to the crowd with her impressive vocal style, drawing an auditory likeness to Brody Dalle (The Distillers). For fans of mosh pits, this is ALSO a band you won’t want to miss.

American Football

For true fans of the indie scene, few words have to be said about this band. The iconic comeback kids from Urbana, Illinois have inspired countless bands in the indie and midwest emo scene since they started in 1997, and due to a resurgence in popularity. Since the band reformed in 2014, they have released 2 LPs (aptly named American Football LP2 + LP3), a live album, and an album of covers. Their newest album is set to release May 1, 2026, perfect timing for their KBP performance— I’ll have you guess what the album is called.

Show Me The Body

Show Me The Body is a punk/hardcore band making their way to KBP from New York City. SMTB’s expansive sound provides a lot for listeners, going from entrancing melodies on choruses from ‘Spit’, to growling riffs on ‘Arcanum’, and bouncing around to fast-paced punk on ‘Madonna Rocket’, all while having total control of the crowd. Besides Turnstile, THIS is the act you’ll want to see if you’re a fan of mosh pits. This will be SMTB’s first stop on their tour before trekking around the west coast before making their way to Europe this summer.

Chanel Beads

Blending elements of dreampop, 80s synthwave, vaporwave, and several other shared experimental elements, Chanel Beads is Shane Lavers’ project that has people as hypnotized and curious as they are excited for new music. Their first and only album Your Day Will Come, which was released in 2024, heard Shane + collaborators at their best. The music video for ‘Police Scanner’ is the perfect encapsulation of the lo-fi, dreamy, digitized pocket that Shane Lavers is paving for himself with Chanel Beads.

Single Day and 3-day VIP passes are currently sold out— but lucky you! There’s still General Admission passes for sale! Act fast before they’re gone too, and we’ll see you in Salt Lake City!

Words & Photography: Kenny Jusino