Battle of the Bands Opened by Past Winner WinterHaven

Written by Ainsley Fraser Last Thursday, four groups competed at our semi-annual Battle of the Bands, presented by KJACK Radio and hosted by the Orpheum Theater. After great performances by everyone, Gone Before Us was declared the winner by the audience, earning free time at a recording studio and a Tiny Desk Concert in our booth. WinterHaven, a pop-punk band from Flagstaff, won the contest in the spring of 2019. This year, they returned to open the show and wish luck to the ones after the trophy. The lead vocalist, James “Jack” Hernandez, started their set off with, “Anyways, here’s ‘Wonderwall’.” Once the room settled their laughter, the four-piece band erupted into a symphony of drums and guitar. Since their success in this competition two years ago, WinterHaven has released two full length albums called “Apparition” (2020) and “B3” (2021). Some of their music has even been played on both local and state radio stations. Said to be heavily influenced by Blink-182, Pierce The Veil, and other bands, they want to, “Bring music they’ve fallen in love with back into the mainstream.” Just as they rocked the house this week for primarily NAU students, they have no plans of stopping anytime soon. With having shows in places like Mesa and Prescott recently, it will be no surprise when you see them playing across the country a year from now.