For the second year in a row, student band The Last Arrival opened for Loyolapalooza’s headlining artist, this year being Ravyn Lenae. The band earned this opportunity after winning the Battle of the Bands, a campus event hosted by WLOY, Loyola’s student-run radio station, which serves as the gateway to performing at Loyolapalooza.
What was initially advertised as a battle between multiple bands, however, turned out to be only a ‘Battle of the Band’. To the audience’s surprise, The Last Arrival was the only group in attendance. The evening of the battle saw an electrifying performance, in which three of band’s four vocalists took turns singing their own selections, with their band-mates playing along.
If there had been other competitors to face The Last Arrival on the night of the battle, judges would have been present to deliberate on the winner. Event coordinator, Yukesh Aryal ‘28 commented on the selection process.
“The decision would have been based on a variety of criteria, including stage presence, crowd engagement, overall performance quality, musicianship, and how well each band connected with the audience. Our goal is always to select the group that will bring the best energy at Loyolapalooza,” Aryal said.
With or without competition, The Last Arrival kicked off the night with a setlist consisting of a few recognizable covers paired with their own personal discography. Songs such as ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, ‘Say it Ain’t So’ by Weezer, and more of these classic covers made up only a small amount of the set list, with the debut of several original songs.
Before each song, one of the band’s lead guitarists and singer, Patrick Hart ’27, would call out which of the band’s songwriters present had written it. The two present songwriters, one being Hart himself, and the other, Michael Moseley ’26, each played a number of their own tracks, which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed.
Hunter Colson ‘24 noted that the first original song that the band performed concluded with a message that it likely would not be released on Spotify for several months.
“Hearing that your favorite song so far in the set has yet to be released publicly is such a gut punch because now I gotta wait just to hear it again,” Colson said.
The Last Arrival is made up of five members total, though only four were present on the night of the battle. Chris Saia ‘27, being the one absence from the band’s ranks, is the backup singer and secondary lead guitarist. In total, however, the band is very vocally gifted, with all but bassist Ed McGillicuddy ’25, singing at least once that night.
“The only other songwriters at the moment are Chris and I, and we feel it morally incorrect to perform Chris’s ‘Sacred Vibrations’ without him,” Hart said.
Despite their seemingly easy win, the audience was so mesmerized by the performance that it would have been hard to not let them back on the stage at Loyolapalooza for a second time.
“To play two years in a row, it truly means a lot. Without any supporters, and the great friends that we all have who have always attended our shows, we wouldn’t be able to go as far as we have or have as much fun playing together as we do,” drummer Sam Mejia ’26, said.
Aside from the exciting performance at this past Loyolapalooza, The Last Arrival frequently performs both on and off campus. Their most recent show was held at Barley’s Backyard Uptown, a restaurant in Towson, in early April, with a large crowd of students supporting. Be sure to follow the band’s Instagram page @the.lastarrival to get updated on their upcoming performances!
