Molly McCoy, Special to the Daily Herald

As temperatures climb and summer begins, music fans in Utah County back into Velour for the venue’s semi-annual Battle of The Bands. With past winners like Imagine Dragons, The Aces, Neon Trees and The Backseat Lovers, winning has become a launching point for musical success. This year, Local Kin took home the win.

Battle of The Bands is a six-night event with five nights of preliminary performances, with four bands each night, before the championship round of daily winners. The judges are musicians, writers, record store owners and audio engineers and others in the music world.

This year’s finals night had a wide variety of music genres ranging from folk to retro rock and, despite the variation in genre, it was a tight race the entire night.

First to take the stage was Chi Chi La Möt, a blues rock group that’s played together for two years.

Each band member was fully committed to the performance, feeding off each other’s energy as well as the crowd. With wild guitar solos, energetic drums and powerful vocals, they were the perfect kickoff to the evening and set the tone for the competition.

Molly McCoy, Special to the Daily Herald

Next up was The Mellons. As an avid Beatles fan, it was hard for me to not instantly love them as their music starts out with Beach Boys-style harmonies as well as a retro stage setup. They incorporated horns into their set which really helped them stand out from the beginning.

A significant part of the scoring system for the competition is crowd engagement. Artists are encouraged to get the crowd singing, dancing and enjoying themselves.

The Mellons gave plenty of love to the crowd, talking about the area’s tight-knit music scene, their love and appreciation for Velour and by passing out cardboard cutouts of their faces.

The third band of the night was The Plastic Cherries, coming off a performance at Salt Lake City’s Kilby Block Party. While the block party is a massive festival with thousands of attendees, The Plastic Cherries performed Saturday as if they were still in the open air.

The best part of watching The Plastic Cherries is seeing how they tell a well-rounded tale with their songwriting and performance. It’s hard not to stare in awe at how their guitarist, drummer, bassist, pianist and lead singer feed off each other’s sound to create a story.

Molly McCoy, Special to the Daily Herald

Local Kin is the definition of stomp-and-holler folk. With an upright bass, fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar, harmonies, cajon and gritty vocals by lead singer Baden Ballard, this band closely resembles early Mumford and Sons while bringing their own unique style.

They were the softest group of the night, which immediately set them apart from the other acts. One of their members was also unable to perform so Mick from the band Seaslak, a finalist at the summer 2022 Battle of the Bands, stepped in to play the banjo and sing harmonies.

Baden connected with the crowd and spoke comfortably as he told stories about his songs and song writing. While he earned a good laugh saying his songwriting is, “as if a third grader who had really strong emotions wrote songs,” Local Kin proved themselves to be a musical force.

The last band to take the stage was JumpMonk, a jazz/groove band that instantly engaged the crowd from the first note. It was obvious the work they put into their set — it was cheery, energetic and lead singer Madison Schefer did a great job at including the crowd in every possible moment.

As the votes were being counted, I spoke to several judges from the previous nights, as well as familiar faces from the music scene. Every person I talked to had a different opinion. While opinions as to “the best” varied, it was clear every band brought their A-game.

Molly McCoy, Special to the Daily Herald

The crowd gathered around the stage again as the winner was announced. After the count, and subsequent recount, Local Kin was front and center once again with every member grinning from ear to ear. It will be exciting to see what comes next for this four-piece local band.

While the Battle of the Bands only happens every six months, the crowd was assured that each band would be invited back to play at the Velour again. There won’t be shows this upcoming weekend as the Fork Fest music festival takes center stage.

The crowd cheers during the Battle of the Bands at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Dallin Major, of Chi Chi La Möt, performs during the Battle of the Bands at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Joseph Maddock, guitarist of Plastic Cherries, performs during the Battle of the Bands at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

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