Battle of the Bands Returns for 22nd Year on June 6 in Hampton Bays

The Southampton Youth Bureau’s 22nd annual Battle of the Bands competition is bringing the sound of local bands back to Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays again this summer, on Friday, June 6.

The concert is one of the largest annual events for high school bands in the Town of Southampton to showcase their talents in front of a large crowd of friends, family and peers, complete with a professional sound and lighting system.

Southampton Youth Bureau Assistant Director Peter Strecker, who runs the event, called it “a great opportunity for them to get out on stage to express their creativity in front of a live audience in a safe and supervised setting.”

Gates open at 7 p.m., and those arriving early will be treated to a series of special guest opening acts for the first hour. This year will feature four local high schoolers who participated in “Hamptons Got Talent,” a talent show hosted in Hampton Bays by the Youth Bureau in April.

The performers are first-place winner Sumeja Bytyqi, People’s Choice winner Cole Dawson, as well as Camila Castro and Ava Kuklis, two participants from the show.

The main show begins at 8 p.m., as the bands take the stage.

This year, five bands will be competing, which is the most bands since 2018. Each band will have 20 minutes to perform a set of three to four songs. The winning band also gets to perform an encore at the end of the show.

Highlighting the bill is Daydream, which won first place in last year’s competition. The four-piece group will be competing to win back-to-back titles, a feat last accomplished by the band En Fuego in 2022.

The band formed in January 2024 through the EEA Rocks program at the East End Arts music school in Riverhead, a program that brings teen musicians together to learn how to play as a band and develop stage presence through live performance.

Daydream’s lineup features Lilou Zugmeyer on vocals, Lucas Magnozzi on guitar, Dylan West on bass, and Thomas Downey on drums. Primarily playing rock and pop, their repertoire features songs from the late 1960s to modern rock from this decade. Artists the band has covered include Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner and Benson Boone.

Since their win last year, Daydream has performed at events such as Alive on 25 and the annual Mosaic Festival, both in Riverhead. This summer, they are returning to Alive on 25 and will be playing in another Battle of the Bands in Greenport to compete for a spot in the village’s “Dances in the Parks” concert series.

Zugmeyer described the band’s win last year as “really surreal for all of us” and that they’re feeling confidant going into this year’s event.

“We’re feeling good. We have a really strong set and feel even more united than we were last year,” she said. “We’ve all had more time to grow closer as a band and become really good friends.”

Also returning to the lineup this year is Bleach, which competed last year under the name Glass Culture and finished in third place.

The five-piece band from Hampton Bays features Noah Hafemeister on vocals, Trey Scudder on lead guitar, Gabe DiFrancesco on rhythm guitar, Lance Schroeder on bass, and Sean Lowtsher on drums. Hafemeister and Lowtsher also switch spots for some songs.

Primarily an alternative rock group, their sound features elements of metal and grunge, highlighted by the guitar duo of Scudder and DiFrancesco.

The band formed in August 2023, when Scudder and DiFrancesco started jamming together. The two then recruited their friends to round out the lineup to compete in Battle of the Bands. Formed under the name Swerv City, the group changed the band name to Glass Culture right before the event. They settled on the current name this past August, with DiFrancesco joking that the old name “sounded like a ’70s prog band.”

Reflecting on last year’s performance, DiFrancesco shared that “it was a little nerve-racking, but for going through it for the first time not really knowing what we were doing, I think we did pretty good.”

Now going into their second time in the competition, Scudder said that fans can expect “a more coherent, energetic show.”

For Hafemeister, this will be his fourth year playing at Battle of the Bands. He previously performed with The Atomic Pineapple in 2022 and 2023, and with Glass Culture in 2024.

One of the bands making its debut this year is Plunderfish, a four-piece group from Hampton Bays whose music combines rock, punk and metal. Plunderfish features James Maroulas on vocals, Trey Scudder on guitar, Svetlana Datsyuk on bass, and Esteban Lopez on drums.

The band formed five months ago, when Lopez and Datsyuk started jamming, soon bringing in Maroulas and Scudder to form a full lineup. Their debut show took place on April 2 at Rock Band Night at Hampton Bays High School. Lopez shared that though the band members were nervous, they played through it before ending on a high note with a cover of “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss.

For Lopez and Datsyuk, this will be their first time performing at Battle of the Bands. Maroulas and Scudder will be making their second appearance after performing with Glass Culture last year.

As a member of both Bleach and Plunderfish, Scudder has had to balance being in two groups at once, saying, “Now that my AP exams are done, I have a lot more time to dedicate to music.”

Another band that will be making its first Battle appearance is Rally House, whose members are also part of the EEA Rocks program. The group primarily plays a brand of alternative rock influenced by bands like Nirvana and Radiohead, but they have also covered artists like Amy Winehouse.

Rally House features Gimena Valdespino on vocals and guitar, Jenna Servedio on guitar, Dylan West on bass, and Greta Jones on drums. Since forming last June, the band has performed at events such as Alive on 25 in Riverhead and developed a close bond.

“I like the songs that we play — they’re very fun,” said Jones. “But I also like the people I’ve met and how they’ve honestly changed my life as close friends I never thought I would have.”

Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place. This year’s prize packages are still being put together but will draw from the event’s sponsors, including LTV and Sky Zone Trampoline Park. The winning bands also will receive commemorative plaques.

The seeding will be determined by a panel of three judges. This year’s judges are Southampton Town Councilman Michael Iasilli, who Strecker noted has “been very supportive of all of our music programs,” Jody Gambino, a videographer and editor at LTV, and Matt Zazzarino, a local drummer.

The event will be emceed by Casey Farrell and Julianna Najdzion of the Youth Bureau’s Youth Advisory Committee.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the gate on June 6. In case of inclement weather, the make-up date is Friday, June 13.

For more information, visit southamptontownny.gov/youthbureau or call 631-702-2425.