Amelia and Sequoia were crowned the champions of Movin’ On’s Battle of the Bands on Tuesday, winning the opening spot of Movin’ On 2026 along with a free meal and party at Raising Cane’s downtown. The battle was hard fought, and each band performed valiantly.

The Battle of the Bands judges this year were: Javier Hones, a member of last year’s winner Fez; Angle Mariotti, the band manager for My Hero Zero; and Leslie Myers, Penn State Music Group’s faculty advisor.

To kick things off, The Vicious Cyclists took the stage. A genre-meshing pop-rock band, the quintet performed three songs, including a cover of “Dirty Little Secret” by All-American Rejects, who performed at Movin’ On last year. The cyclists closed their set with a new, never-before-performed song, called “Life of the Party,” featuring a totally awesome keytar solo by the band’s lead.

Next up was Amelia and Sequoia, an amalgamation of two bands (Amelia and the Bad Men, and Sequoia) into one funky jam. Sequoia joined Amelia this year, after she performed with her band in last year’s battle. With a massive band and instruments ranging from a saxophone to a tumba drum, the ensemble hit us with groove after groove. Their three-song set was a nonstop thrill.

Next was Natalie McMahon, a country/pop singer and songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio, who began her music journey at seven years old. Accompanied by a small band including a bass, a violinist, and a drummer, the simplicity was deceptive. She performed five songs, including a cover of Zack Bryan’s “Revival.”

Fourth up was Ham On A Stick, formerly known as “Corn Dogs On A Stick.” The band performed four pop-rock bangers, kicking it off with an original called “Ice Cream.” The quintet was composed of a traditional rock setup (two guitars, bass, and drums) along with a keyboardist. The lead, Jack Warner, writes all of the lyrics and music himself before bringing them to the band to develop into what we saw at the battle.

TUCK&ROLL took the stage after that, a hard rock trio all decked out in Penn State jerseys. From the calm jams of Natalie McMahon, this was a stark, but of course welcome, change. Noise and feedback cascaded over the crowd as TUCK&ROLL rocked our socks off with their four songs, including a cover of “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon. Shredding galore.

Last but not least, Sean (also known as Sean Thomas on Spotify) came to the stage, accompanied by the band Field Day. Pop rock, inspired by Dominic Fike among others, Sean’s set was much calmer than the previous group, but no less fun. Chill, reverb-covered songs characterized Sean’s set and earned him the #2 spot in the final ranking.

Movin’ On’s annual music festival will take place on Friday, May 1, at the Penn State Intramural Fields, with Amelia and Sequoia opening, featuring alongside The Dare, That Mexican OT, Slayyyter, and headliner Zara Larsson.