Southern Utah University’s Battle of the Bands event Thunderground wrapped up Scream Week’s Oct. 27 events with six acts and two stages on a live-stream performance.
The ultimate winner of the competition was Cedar City- based blues/rock outfit Yonic Geode.
Red Haired Friend and Foxy Grandpa took home the third and second place winnings respectively. The bands Foxy Grandpa and Red Haired Friend took home second and third place respectively.
The members of Yonic Geode have been playing together since July, and don’t plan on slowing down after their victory at the Thunderground competition.
Ryan Steineckert, the KSUU station manager, said the KSUU staff who organized the event were pleased with the outcome.
“Jadon Lamphear really took the lead on this thing,” he said. “It’s gone really well, we didn’t expect to get so many bands, and the livestream went smoothly.”
The performance was split between two stages like an outdoor festival performance, each lit with low violet and green lights that lended some drama to the battle. Six acts played three songs each, and the broadcast alternated between the stages.
“I don’t remember whose idea the two stages were,” Steineckert said. “It came out organically because we were trying to make it work on livestream.”
The focus on the performance’s online broadcast was a COVID-19 precaution that, according to Steineckert, didn’t seem to turn acts away from the performance.
“We couldn’t have much of a live audience,” Steineckert said, “So we thought there would be bands that wouldn’t want to register, but we actually had enough bands register that we had to turn one away.”
Given the relatively smooth success of Thunderground and the opportunities it provided for the organizers and staff, Steineckert and the KSUU staff are hoping to repeat the event in the future.
“This gave so many students educational opportunities, for the journal, SUUTV and KSUU” Steineckert said. “Plus, it’s a fun event that people seem to like. The online broadcast went well, and people got some great live music. There were even some community members involved, like Whittlesticks and Groovacious, so there were a lot of positives in this.”
Story by Janzen Jorgensen
reporter@suunews.net
