_{By Mike Romero}

After carefully listening through 70+ demo submissions, Velour Live Music Gallery has selected the lineup for this Summer’s competition.

This is the first time a Summer Battle of the Bands has happened at Velour since 2019 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. For this Battle of the Bands, Velour intentionally chose to highlight new, young bands that have recently played their Thursday night New Band Showcases. Doors open at 7:30 all week. Admission is $10 per show.

The Winter 2021 Battle of the Bands winners, Cardinal Bloom, just released a new single today. It’s called “She’s Just a Friend.” According to lead singer Joey St. John, “It’s about this girl who was a friend, and we couldn’t figure out if we were just friends or more. Musically, I’m really excited for how people will react to our verses that are in a 9/4 meter, which isn’t too common!”

This single was recorded at June Audio. Recording time there was one of the grand prizes for winning last winter. Bassist Jacob Silvester says, “Recording at June was a very rewarding experience. It was awesome to be in such acoustically well-treated rooms and to see and hear all the equipment. Compared to other experiences in the past, recording at June was like being in a multi-million dollar candy store.” You can check out the song and this summer’s lineup below!

Monday 6/20

RIP Cassette
Salt
Seaslak
TAG!

Tuesday 6/21

Grimwood
The Samuel Charles Band
Kippersnack
Down River

Wednesday 6/22

Black Tie Event
Psychedelic Purple
Hollow Hill
Hurtado

Thursday 6/23

No Diploma
Frantic Memories
VI
Breakfast Biscuit

Friday 6/24

Kõmas
Cactus Tree
The Goodfellas
Good Color

Saturday 6/25

Finalists TBA