By: Lily Provencher
GreggFest is taking shape as local bands compete for a chance to perform, with student acts vying for the stage this spring.
The first annual VTSU Lyndon Music Entertainment Industry Student Association, MEISA, battle of the bands kicked off the GreggFest season on March 7th with a night of high energy show as 7 campus bands put on their best performances in the hope of playing at the festival in May.
Each band had to choose two songs to perform in front of the packed house at The Loading Dock on Friday 3/7. Every band was vying for the 5 opening performances at GreggFest this May.
The night kicked off with the on-campus rap performer Social C he performed two of his original songs “Real Talk” off his 2024 EP Real Talk and “Upcoming” the first song he released in 2022. His high energy performance and passion had the crowd singing along. Although he usually performs with a backing track for this event he was accompanied by Mollie Jean on keys, Jared Bored on drums, Cat Rocio on bass, and Ethan Williams on guitar.
The next band Fantom slowed it down a bit with their ethereal original songs. Fantom a new student band fronted by Kira Dooley supported by Ethan Sullivan on keys, Cody Corcoran on drums, and Finn on guitar had their debut performance at Battle of the Bands. Although we don’t know the names of these songs, yet the audience was swaying along to the soft music. Coffee and Cream, another new student band from the Lyndon campus shocked the audience with powerful vocals from their front man Isaiah Gutierrez. The rest of the band consisting mainly of first year students with Nolan Harold on drums, Micheal Matsi on keys, Isak Duncan playing mandolin, and Robert McNelly on guitar put on a stellar first performance as a band. The band surprised the audience with their renditions of two covers the first “Gravity” by John Mayer and the second “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. Run Don’t Walk a staple band at the Loading Dock took the stage next. The three-piece band of Charlie Mak on guitar, Noah Lapointe on bass, and Campbell Jillette on drums created a powerhouse of sound. Before they started their first song the band took a moment to dedicate their performance to the father of Charlie Mak and a dear friend of the Noah Lapointe that had recently passed away. Noah kicked off the show saying “We’re going to play the fuck out of these songs for them” before jumping into the band’s original “Subliminal War” off their debut album Emergency Procedures that released back in 2023. In between songs the band took the time to bring Alex Hayes to the stage introducing her as the newest member of the band as their new lead vocalist marking a new era for the previously instrumental band. After this exciting announcement the band finished out their set with a new original “Electric Doom” that is currently unreleased. Following Run Don’t Walk’s prog-rock mosh filled set was the Lyndon based singer Charlotte Rae supported by Campbell Jillette on drums, Jared Boren on keys, Mollie Jean on bass, and Chris Finn on guitar. Charlotte opened her set with her newest song “Wants and Needs” that recently released on her Wants and Needs (the collection) EP on February 28th, 2025. During the performance Charlotte had the audience swaying and waving along with the music. For her second song she put on a sassy performance of Chappel Roan’s original “Super Graphic Ultra-Modern Girl”. Her performance had the audience dancing and singing along as she strutted the edge of the stage.Red Ensoniq the independent musical act of Jared Boren was the second to last act of the night. As only the second performance as Red Ensoniq the audience was unsure what to expect but, with his incredible theming and stage presence he shocked the audience. Supported by Max Groft on keys, Noah Lapoint on guitar, Ethan Willams on bass, and Campbell Jillette on drums the band brought the energy. The band opened with an original unreleased song. After their first song the band started handing out CDs to audience members of various bands. The second song Red Ensoniq performed was a cover of “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol. The band played hard and captured the audience with fantastic crowd interaction and stage presence.
The final act of the night was the hard rock band Bitter Sweet they opened their set with their cover of “Still Into You” by the band Paramore. The front woman Mollie Jean grabbed the crowd’s attention with her high spirits and performance. The band had the audience singing along to the 2010s classic. Bassist Ben Perrault, guitarist Noah Lapointe, and drummer Jimi Piluso also captured audience attention with their rocking performances. After jumping around the stage through her performance of “Still Into You” Mollie Jean took time to introduce the band before powerfully launching into their unreleased original song “Waist Deep”. With the audience clapping and singing along the band brought the night to a high energy close. Audience members and other supporters had the opportunity to vote at the door or online via the MEISA Instagram page opening voting to students and community members unable to attend the event in person. The vote results were counted by the executive board the following day. MEISA announced the results in the afternoon on Saturday 3/8. The top five bands that will be playing GreggFest this May are Charlotte Rae, Bitter Sweet, Run Don’t Walk, Coffee and Cream, and Red Ensoniq! However fans haven’t seen the last of Social C and Fantom this GreggFest season though as they will be performing at this year’s GreggFest kickoff where the headlining performers will be announced.THE LOADING DOCK
MEISA
SOCIAL C
FANTOM
RUN DON’T WALK
CHARLOTTE RAE
RED ENSONIQ
BITTER SWEET
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