Velour Winter 2025 Battle of the Bands – Night 1

Coastal City

As anyone who’s been to a BOTB knows, opening the evening, especially on the opening night, is a daunting feat. Coastal City, dressed in their sweater vests, heard this and said, “Bet.” They opened with the crunchiest of crunchy riffs before shifting into solid indie vocals. This aggro riff pulled the crowd to them in a “Get over here!” fashion that would even make Scorpion proud. Throughout their set, Coastal City was tight. The current lineup of the band has been playing together for a year, with some members having played together for longer, and it shows. They were comfortable with each other and delivered great pacing.

One of the downsides of being an indie band in Provo these days is sounding like every other indie band in Provo. Coastal City is no exception, having that telltale Provocore sound. I would have loved to see them stick with the crunchy aggro punk that they opened their set with, adding more haze, more angst, more umph. That’s what makes them stand out from the crowd. Adding a couple of songs to their setlist will also help break up songs that sound too similar to one another.

Coastal City was the only band tonight that had two lead singers, and boy, was it seamless. Their lead guitarist and bassist also had very tight harmonies. While on the subject of their bassist, he had such a crispy tone. I am a sucker for a solid bass (check out my review of LieYing’s Guerilla EP to see just how much I love the bass). This set gave me such a genuine feeling of warmth that it pushed my seasonal depression away for just a bit of time. I am excited for the future of Coastal City.

Cougar Gold Music

Sax? Check. Standup bass? Check. Bluesy guitar riffs during sound check? Check! Cougar Gold Music brought me something tonight that I didn’t know I needed in the scene: some good ol’ 1950s rockabilly. This four-piece exuded fun while on stage. It was immediately obvious they were all comfortable with each other as they played through their set. The group of fellas had command of the stage as much as I do when I’m 5 virgin spicy margs deep at Heart & Seoul Karaoke. Their sax man stole the show for me with his solo on “Monster Under My Bed.” Dare I say, I even saw some folks in the crowd doing the sock hop.

Of the performances from Night 1, the frontman of Cougar Gold Music was the weakest vocally. That being said, it added to the rockabilly vibe with the same in-your-face attitude that caused many women to swoon and many mothers to turn off the television when Elvis played.

The crowd gave a great indication of how they felt about the band. They were engaged for the whole set, and a chant of “Cougar Gold!” hung around well after the band finished up their set and left the stage. Cougar Gold Music adds something to the Provo scene that’s so desperately needed. Not only do they bring a diversion from what we usually hear in the scene, but they also bring fun. I don’t know of a better way of putting it other than that. It was fun to hear their songs, see the twirl of a standup bass, and hear a sax solo.

EmJay Hink

EmJay Hink opened up with my favorite song from the night. It took me by surprise, as I was expecting her usual cottagecore sound that I heard at Fork Fest this summer. This song was the love child of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero” (The Shrek version, of course). The band felt in the pocket as EmJay danced around on stage and gave an out-of-this-world vocal performance. It looked h*ckin fun and got me pumped for the rest of the set.

The momentum came to a halt for me when EmJay then went on to explain that her genre is cottagecore as she took a left turn from the opening song. This took me out of the vibe that she cultivated with her opener. Excluding the last song of her set, the rest of her songs felt more narrow. There seemed to be fewer opportunities for the other instruments to have the same limitless bounds that they did in the first song. I would love to see EmJay explore more of the sound from that first song.

Arguably, EmJay had the best vocals of the night. If you have been craving more Broadway-esque vocals after watching Wicked, then tune into EmJay. The control and projection she had with her voice were stunning and filled Velour with magic.

Ryan Call

Closing out the night, Ryan Call brought a very ethereal blanket over the crowd. The atmosphere shifted from the vibe that EmJay brought to a song that would feel at home in a small cult classic indie film. The lead guitarist’s tone for that song is what dreams are made of. Ryan and the gang followed that up with a song that fully made me believe Bowie was back – and made poppier music than what he made in life.

A struggle for me with Ryan’s set was the backup vocals. At times, they felt too much, and the space felt overcrowded. I know this isn’t fully in Ryan’s control, but I believe the backup vocalists’ mics were too high. The piano also seemed a bit too high and drowned out some of the vocals and other instruments.

Ryan’s last song transported the audience to another realm. Opening the song with “ahhs” gave the impression he was singing the Halo theme, and I was as on board as Master Chief was when giving the Covenant their bomb back. This last song, along with the previous song, gave the impression of gospel music, whether that was the intent or not. It fit nicely with the curated sound Ryan developed throughout his set.

Results

Once Ryan Call’s set finished, I had the opportunity to speak to one of my fellow judges who I (literally) look up to: Colin Foy. I asked his thoughts about the performances. “There are stiff harmonizations throughout each of the bands,” Colin said. I fully agree. Each and every band had harmonies with their singers and each of the groups hit it well. I also had the chance to chat with another judge, Clark Clifford, an acclaimed photographer from the area, and asked if he had anything to share. He said, and I quote, “no,” end quote. Powerful things from both of these fantastic people who have brought so much to the scene.

John Schultz, a man with a fantastic haircut, explained that each group was one of the judges’ number one picks. The leaderboard finished within 3 points of each other, showing just how competitive this night was. After counting, then recounting a second time, the results came in.

Cougar Gold Music is going to the finals!

You can catch Cougar Gold Music at finals this Saturday! Velour’s Winter 2025 Battle of the Bands Night 2 is tonight, featuring Mitchee, Samuel Charles, Allo Monroe, and Always Her. Doors open at 7:30 PM.

While you’re waiting for the show to start, check out “Stray Cat Strut” by Cougar Gold Music below and be sure to follow the Night 1 winners on Instagram!