Velour Summer 2022 Battle of the Bands Recap – Finals

_{By Grant Fry}

What a night! The line was out the door for pretty much the whole show, setting a definite new record for Battle of the Bands attendance. All of the bands played their hearts out, and the crowd was electric! The judges definitely had their work cut out for them tonight.

The night kicked off with Psychedelic Purple. Their vocalist, Grace, brought back those powerhouse vocals and the crowd just lit up immediately. I was so impressed by the entire band – there’s so much talent in the group, whose members (may I remind you) are all between 16 and 18! Guitarist Elijah shredded a few amazing solos throughout the set and the rhythm section stayed locked into their groove. A very impressive performance, and as mentioned in their preliminary recap, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Psychedelic Purple around the local scene.

Next up was Kipper Snack. I had the pleasure of seeing their preliminary performance on Tuesday and I can tell you that they stepped it up tonight. Sean’s vocals were clear and confident tonight, and you could really hear the control he has. Just like Tuesday’s performance, I was impressed by how tight the rhythm was and how strong their arrangements are. With 3 guitars being played, there’s not a lot of room in the mid-range for the vocals to sit, but they write parts that still allow for Sean’s vocals to shine through. Amazing job tonight – a performance to be proud of.

Breakfast Biscuit was up third. I love the chord progressions they choose and how each song really takes you on a journey. Another high-energy performance, with not one, but two crowd surfs! Everything the judges loved about them in preliminaries carried over to their performance tonight and was amplified even further. I can’t get enough of their songwriting. Their writing style is so unique. I strongly suggest a listen through their debut album, unobserved. At this point, all the judges knew it was going to be extremely tough to pick a winner.

Fourth in the lineup was The Goodfellas. Fresh off a victory the night before, they definitely know how to get the crowd amped up. A killer vocal performance tonight and an all-around amazing stage presence. There was lots of interaction with the crowd, who gave the energy right back. It was definitely the loudest crowd response of the night. This may seem like a strange measure, but if you’re playing so hard that even your audience is making guitar faces during your solos, you know you’re doing something right. Great songwriting as well – lots of magic moments in the songs that had the judges beaming.

Seaslak finished out the night. Just like their preliminary round, they had quite the task as a folk-pop band to follow up the energy of the previous groups. But they certainly rose to the challenge. Angelic vocal harmonies abounded and the crowd was sucked in immediately. In fact, they were cheering throughout the sound check before the set even started. As soon as their set began, the crowd oscillated between silence to soak up every minute of the incredible performance and roaring cheers of appreciation. I can’t believe that Seaslak has only played together for 4 months! To end the night, the band came down into the crowd to sing, with the whole crowd joining in. It was a powerful moment to finish an impressive performance.

The votes were counted three times to make sure that there were no errors, as the margins were razor-thin. It ended up mostly coming down to the audience vote, as the judges’ scores were so close. After a long dance party awaiting the final count, the winner was finally announced.

The room was completely silent as the name was read, and The Goodfellas were declared the winners of the Summer 2022 Battle of the Bands!

Provo Music Magazine would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to The Goodfellas and give thanks to all of the bands that participated in every round. The level of talent was incredible and it made for a record-breaking competition. Make sure to check out “Laughing Gas” by The Goodfellas below.