_{By Mitch Tousley}

Velour’s third night of Battle of the Bands started as they usually do: a long line of eager fans waiting to get tickets before the show and palpable excitement from the performers inside. Fern, the Velour’s resident front-of-house engineer was also performing MC duties last night and welcomed the packed room to the event.

Lønnefelt

Opening with a dreamy duet of reverb-soaked guitars then swiftly switching into a driving indie groove, Lønnefelt perfectly set the tone for the night. Next, the band switched gears again to an old school, blues-riff driven tune. Their lead guitarist joined the lead singer on vocals in a chorus that was irresistibly catchy and was definitely stuck in my head the rest of the night.

They followed that up with a song that felt like a long-lost Rolling Stones single brought to life by someone like Jim James. This song encapsulated their sound so well: a blend of old school rock songwriting sensibilities without ever being passé and 21st century sonic conventions. The rest of their set featured new and cool iterations of this sound and ended with “Ghost Boy Blues,” a dramatic ballad that showed off their serious chops. Lønnefelt came out swinging and proved the competition was going to be tough.

Bat Brain

Bat Brain changed the pace of the show, kicking off with loud, ’90s-inspired pop rock. Their first couple of songs were fast, raw, and featured excellent drum fills perfectly placed to bring us into the choruses of these songs. Through all of it, instrumentals served as a bed for the vocalist Kristin’s effortless charisma. At the midpoint of their set, they masterfully deployed the soft verse/loud chorus technique, alternating between tight, staccato power chords in the verses and big, open strums with crashing cymbal hits in the verses.

Things slowed down for the next song, which featured a beautiful lyric that stuck with me all night: “I will trust my eyes to find the light in the places that I hide.” It was a poignant moment in an otherwise fun and carefree performance. Their last song opened with a really cool call-and-response between the two guitars and was easily their most energetic song. The chorus reminded me of something Snõõper would do (is egg punk finally coming to Provo??). The crowd was loving it, and you could tell the band was too.

A Few Feet High

Next up was A Few Feet High. Their set started a bit rocky with the drummer losing a stick and what seemed to be an unplugged bass, but they handled the disruptions with humor and grace before jumping right into the music. Their first two songs were pop-punk bangers with emo lyrics that got the crowd’s attention.

They then slowed things down with two acoustic numbers that featured the drummer and bassist as dual vocalists. They harmonized beautifully, and their lyrics about uncertainty filled the Velour in a way that no other band pulled off that night. Finally, their concluding number dialed things back up a bit for a mid-tempo pop rock song that was a great conclusion to their eclectic set.

Sabrina Fair

Last up was Sabrina Fair. The group started with a little teenage heartbreak, and from the first few notes, you knew you were in for a treat. They played as tightly as you’d expect a family band to play, being perfectly in the pocket with each other and different band members taking turns harmonizing with Sabrina. Right as the first song ended, the bassist and lead guitarist started laying down the groove for the second song, “Lemon Scented” — a seamless transition. These on-stage interactions between the band are half the fun of a Sabrina Fair show. Their responses to each other’s playing and visible anticipations of key moments in songs makes it clear that they’re both having fun and incredibly well-rehearsed and comfortable.

“Woo!” is one of the more engaging and interesting songs I’ve heard at Velour in a long time. For all of its speed and relatively short runtime, it is jam-packed with intricate details and unexpected moments all played with precision. They then closed with a song dedicated to introverts that was a great balance of smooth and grooving verses and loud, triumphant choruses. It was a terrific way to end their set and the night as a whole.

Results

After a night of excellent performances, it was announced that Sabrina Fair won the preliminary and will be moving to play at finals on Saturday with Sage Lane and Wilbere!

Tonight is Night 4 of Velour’s Winter 2024 Battle of the Bands! Doors open at 7:30 PM, and you can catch performances from Spirit Machines, CAYSN, OrcaMind, and Madfish. While you wait, check out “Ghost Boy Blues” from Lønnefelt and be sure to follow Night 3 winners Sabrina Fair on Instagram!