Words By Zach Collier
Photos By Molly McCoy
I have judged over a dozen Battle of the Bands finals at this point, so this will be an interesting one to write. I’m going to structure this a little differently from my past finals coverage. This finals night was unique because it was largely composed of newcomers to BOTB instead of former finalists coming back to claim the crown. With that newness came a lack of experience that I’m not used to seeing at finals.
My goal is to help not just last night’s performers, but also future performers and performers in general. The principles I’ll discuss are universally applicable. I’m going to start by giving feedback to all the bands generally, and then discuss what I liked about each band (because there’s a lot to love).
Feedback
Each band last night struggled with nerves, and each act somehow responded to it the exact same way: by turning that anxiety into energy. This is a much better strategy than freezing, blanking on words, or quitting – but it can come at a cost. While the movie This Is Spinal Tap has popularized the idea of dialing things up to eleven – and we usually use that as a positive descriptor of energy here at PMM – last night felt like a 12 or 13 energy-wise.
Across every act, that resulted in noticeable tempo fluctuations; poor mic technique; a lot of pep rally antics to force crowd engagement; missed rhythmic hits; tuning issues with vocal harmonies; and a lot of screaming in general (but not for stylistic purposes).
Some quick comments:
- Have a strategy for nerves. Performance will always prompt a fight, flight, or freeze response. You will get dry mouth; cold or shaky hands; anxiously bouncing legs in the green room; brain fog/memory issues; butterflies in your stomach; and/or the urge to pee. The best performers don’t magically vanquish these symptoms. Rather, they have strategies to manage them.
- Play to a metronome. At BOTB (and at many professional gigs), the circumstances won’t allow for in-ear monitors. But the drummer should at least play to a metronome to keep the anxious energy and tempo under control. If you don’t have a drummer, whoever is the primary rhythmic driver should have the met.
- One of the categories people are judged on at finals is “Crowd Engagement.” We’re looking at how the crowd authentically responds to your music. There’s no decibel meter. Please stop getting everyone to scream just to get them to scream. It does nothing but rob your set of time that could be spent playing music, and it kills momentum for non-fans.
- If you’re throwing something into the crowd, make sure it’s either soft (like a T-shirt or rubber bracelet or something) or you toss it gently. A drum stick thrown a little too energetically last night into the crowd made it to the back of the room and could’ve seriously hurt somebody.
- If you’re going to scream, shout, or bark into the mic, step back from it 3-4 inches. I promise it’ll come through the PA just fine. Also, if you’re singing into the mic, sing close, and don’t push your vocal. It’s the engineer’s job to make sure your vocals are coming through the house. If you force it on stage, your voice will give out a few songs in (which we saw a few times last night).
- Crowd surfing will most likely impact the quality of your guitar solo. Multiple bands crowd surfed last night, and all of them had the same problem here.
The mission of Provo Music Magazine is to take the Provo music scene to new heights by raising public awareness and providing thoughtful analysis about the music being made here. I started the precursor to Provo Music Magazine back in 2016 after my mediocre synth rock band broke up. We played together for 2 years and never really got any traction, and couldn’t figure out why.
At the merch table, people would fist bump us and say things like, “Thanks for sharing your talents!” and “Great energy, guys.” And then… not buy merch. And not stream us. And not follow us. While I’ve played finals night many times, that band in particular never made it to BOTB finals.
We wanted to know what our moms and dads were too kind to tell us. We wanted to know what the non-musicians at the merch table were feeling but didn’t know how to articulate. We wanted to be better, but didn’t know how. I hope this feedback can show some readers how to improve.
Alright. Enough of that. Let’s get to the stuff I loved.
Cougar Gold Music
I grew up listening to The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Stray Cats, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, so Cougar Gold Music was an absolute delight. Seeing a great rockabilly/jump blues band live is electrifying, and these guys deliver. Instead of being gimmicky, the saxophone and upright bass are absolutely core to their sound, consistently sparking insane crowd reactions.
They clearly understand the genre, writing parts that leave room for solos and soli sections while passing melodic lines between instruments and vocals. Moments like the guitar harmonics on “Monster Underneath My Bed” are especially cool. The lead singer and guitarist has exactly the right voice and vibe for this style.
Even though she was filling in, Stacie Fleischer absolutely crushed it on drums. She’s one of the best drummers in the Utah music scene, and the historical record should reflect that. She nails the vibe across every genre she plays. It was my favorite set of the night.
Breakfast Biscuit
These guys came out of the gate ready to kick ass and take names with their solid take on Provocore. Their first number had some insane riffs, and plenty of organic, jump-worthy moments. I can’t stress enough how good this opener was. These guys have energy for days. Great stage presence, unique tones, and exceptional vocals and vocal harmonies (especially on their third song). I knew I’d be listening to them on the drive home after the show (and I did).
One thing I really appreciated about Breakfast Biscuit was the way they subverted expectations around pep-rally, crowd participation antics. Normally the whole “split the audience down the middle to have them do a competition” thing annoys me, because I’ve seen it done a billion times. But they had everyone chant the band’s name back and forth, their drummer got them to match tempo, and then they used the crowd’s rhythm to kick off into their next song. Instead of being annoyed, I was really charmed. Well done, bois.
Their charisma was always enough to captivate the audience. Their slow jam was pure magic. I’ve never heard Velour so quiet (and no shushing was required).
Allo Monroe
Allo Monroe absolutely slaps. I loved the songwriting. They’re a band that somehow makes a room feel alive without anyone quite knowing how they pulled it off. It’s this X factor that’s difficult to quantify.
Their airy guitar tones were dialed in just right, and the whole set was dripping with feel. Lead vocalist Thierry de Carvalho’s has a really brassy vocal tone, reminiscent of Editors or The Moth & the Flame, but poppier – and it’s great.
As mentioned before this week, at times their sound flirts with chaos. But when it’s this well harnessed, that edge becomes part of the charm. Some of their unreleased stuff felt like a grungier take on Nightly’s new releases, and I’m really stoked to hear recordings of it in the future.
Allo Monroe made me a fan tonight.
HATCHBACK
After watching Logan folk darlings HATCHBACK take the stage and put on a show, I can totally understand the appeal. These guys have a unique blend of stomp n’ holler folk that channels all the machismo and camaraderie of Newfoundland rowdy sea shanties (see Great Big Sea) while feeling distinctly American.
In his review of their debut album, Joe Metro described it as “Equal parts thought-provoking reflectiveness and just guys being dudes,” which – having now experienced it firsthand – is the best description of them in the universe.
The gang vocals are really fun and charming. They write great harmonies, they’ve got exuberant energy, and they put on a vibrant show full of yips and cheers. I’m hoping future records reflect the rowdiness of their live show.
Dogpaw
Guys, Dogpaw is something special. They managed to take the technical precision of Cougar Gold Music, the heavy Provocore of Breakfast Biscuit, the dangerous chaos and unique vocal stylings of Allo Monroe, and the “guys being dudes” introspection of HATCHBACK and roll it all together into an absolute spectacle.
“Willow” is one of my favorite songs in the scene right now, and after seeing them live, I’m genuinely pissed that the universe hasn’t given me more Dogpaw recordings.
The dual lead singer setup works well for them, their fans clearly love them (the barking back and forth is such a fun tradition), and their songwriting feels cool while being grounded and approachable. Dogpaw makes it incredibly easy to want to be a fan. I really, really enjoyed their set.
Results
Was this the best Battle of the Bands Finals of all time? Sadly, no. I feel like all the hype this week leading into finals kind of messed with the conclusion, with each of the bands overextending themselves in some way due to nerves. This meant the judges were split in a different way during deliberations and scoring than in nights previous.
While we lamented some of the more obvious errors and limitations during each set, we were also really excited about the songwriting, the genre diversity, and the reckless abandon with which each band threw themselves into their sets. It was fearless. We also loved the crowd, hungry for community and nights worth remembering. This was one of the funnest Deliberation Dance Parties I’ve ever seen, with no less than 4 people on the shoulders of 4 other people at any given moment.
Even though the night wasn’t as polished as I was expecting, it was hopeful and full of energy and optimism. We’ve had polish and talent in years since COVID, but I haven’t felt this kind of energy since 2019, and it was refreshing to see.
After the dance party concluded (shoutout to Al Deans for making the quintessential party playlist), MC John Schultz took the stage to announce the winner.
In the end, Dogpaw took home the grand prize.
What a week. Highs, lows, twists, turns, solid memories, and lessons learned. Make sure to follow each of these bands on Instagram. You can catch our playlist featuring our favorite song from every Velour Winter 2025 Battle of the Bands participant on Spotify below.