Velour Battle of the Bands Night ONE

Velour's Battle of the Bands is this week. Unfortunately, I missed last night's show. Luckily I received an e-mail from one Eliot Rosewater. Eliot, your review isn't nearly pretentious enough for this blog, but it's still a good one:

2010 Velour Winter Battle of the Bands was began in style with four of the finest bands in Utah County battling it out for dominance.

1.  The Crylics

The Crylics kicked off the competition with their brand of spiky synth-punk. They played a tight, energy filled set.  They played a handful of hook filled songs and finished up with an anthemic tune called Empires of Love.  I could tell that they really enjoyed playing their music.  I think that’s what I like most about them.  The rhythm guitar player was dancing like a broken  robot the whole time.  It was brilliant.

2.  Father Time

If you’re familiar with the seminal Provo legends known as Return to Sender, then you know 66% of Father Time.  Chad Reynolds and Scott Miller are back to reclaim the scene they captivated during their high school years.  Father Time’s performance at Battle of the Bands was loud, moving, and emotional.  Smoke machine fog and the purple-red glow of Velour shrouded the trio as they submitted their musical manifesto.  Chad Reynolds spit out words of acid over jagged guitar lines.  The drummer, Scott Miller, played with admirable speed and accuracy.  Although the overall sound of the band was reminiscent of Return to Sender, it was definitely apparent that this definitely is a different band.  

3.  Prince of Whales

I love these guys.  They’ve only been around for a few months but as soon as this six piece super-folk band got on stage, I knew I was in for a treat. Singer-guitarist Scott Dastrup opened up the set by notifying us that the first tune would be a lullaby and that the audience should prepare themselves accordingly.  This announcement was followed by one of the most beautiful and original songs I’ve heard in a long time.  The rest of the set, although short, was equally tremendous.

4.  90s Television

Finally, a band in Provo for the fans of modern psychedelic rock.  This is the band I came to see.  90s Television came armed with a wah-wah pedal and a glowing  Nintendo 64 sign.  Josh Brown sang through a BOSS sampler which gave his vocals an interesting echoing tone.  They played a set jam packed with danceable hits that evoked memories of a better time - The 90’s.

In my opinion, any of the bands that played could have emerged victorious, but there was only one…

The Winner of Monday night’s winner is Prince of Whales.  They are very deserving of the title and I can’t wait to see them again on Saturday. 

An award should also be given to the Velour sound guy, Nate Pyfer.  He does a fabulous job.

Thanks Eliot for helping out this humble blog! Tomorrow I'll write a review of tonight's show which was fabulous even if we didn't win.