Provo • The green room at Velour Live Music Gallery has a certain sacredness about it.
Before taking the stage, countless musicians have waited within these four walls that are decked in eclectic decor. Vintage records plaster the walls, while mismatched pillows and cushy chairs invite you in.
The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel, Cher and Elvis Presley say hi from record sleeves. Donna Summer, Bruce Springsteen and Jimi Hendrix are all here, too. Not to mention a signed version of Donny Osmond’s “Rolling Stone” cover.
They may not have performed here, but these music greats have watched over the talent that has graced Velour since its inception.
This year marks an impressive milestone for the concert hall: it’s been 20 years since the venue began putting a Utah-shaped imprint on the music industry.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The green room at Velour on the venue's 20th anniversary Jan. 13, 2025.
For two decades, owner Corey Fox — and lucky fans — have experienced the Utah music scene’s largest names. Fox has launched the careers of staples like Imagine Dragons, The Aces, Neon Trees and Little Moon from this delightful 300-capacity venue in Provo.
When Fox looks around his green room, he recalls something one of the Utah bands he mentored, The Moth & The Flame, once said. They worked hard to commission an artist to make their debut album’s cover art in 2011.
“That first album was not available for years and years and years, and they didn’t do it because they said, ‘Well, we feel like the artwork is the first track of the album, it sets the mood,’” Fox said. “I fully feel that, especially sitting in a room like this, full of all these records.”
For Fox, walking through the doors of Velour is the first song of a concert, the setlist opener. The atmosphere, he said, “sets the tone for what you’re going to experience.”
(Justin Hackworth) Corey Fox, owner of Velour Live Music Gallery, in Provo in 2011.
A 20-year mission
Fox jumped into the Provo music scene in the early ‘90s, starting by managing bands like Clover and ultimately moving on to concert promotion.
“I kind of got caught up in that energy early on,” he said.
Fox said he got “tricked” into running venues — he never actually wanted to manage one, he just wanted to work with talent. After the community kept badgering him, he finally relented, starting at a venue called Wrapsody. He continued to gain experience booking bands at a comedy club called Johnny B’s, and, later, Muse Music.
On Jan. 13, 2006, he opened Velour.
When he opened the venue, Fox set out to bring back a frenzied energy from the ‘90s, when bands just wanted to find a way to get on stage. Since its opening, though, it’s become much more than that.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Velour Live Music Gallery, an independent music venue in Provo that has become a launchpad for Utah's biggest acts, celebrates its 20th anniversary, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
Building the next generation of bands
Velour isn’t just an entertainment venue; it’s an incubator for bands, and that is intentional on Fox’s part.
“The idea of Velour is to kind of reel them in and put a structure around them and maybe try to push them to do more than they would on their own,” Fox said. “I’m trying to teach bands how to build fan bases, brand and market.”
That structure starts with finding the talent. Every week, Velour has an open mic night — a starting point for every band that has launched its career at the venue. The concert hall also has new band showcases throughout each month and two Battle of the Bands competitions every year.
(Jennifer Carter) The Aces perform at Velour Live Music Gallery In Provo.
Previous winners of the competition include Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees and The Aces, an indie-pop quartet that is also celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Aces lead guitarist Katie Henderson said winning Battle of the Bands in 2012 helped the group “get our foot in the door.” After winning, they got to record with nearby June Audio for free and get their music out more widely.
“Right after we won Battle of the Bands, we had to go back to Velour to collect the winnings,” Henderson recalled. “We went to [Fox’s] office, and we were standing there, and he was like, ‘You guys are crazy if you don’t do this.’”
It was Fox’s urgent belief in their talent and potential that led the band to where they are now — with five studio albums and multiple international tours under their belt.
Encouraging bands to get live performance experience is also part of Velour’s structure — and the earlier artists can get on stage, the better. Fox said the all-ages aspect of Velour allows fanbases to grow up with their favorite bands.
(Robbie Petersen) Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees performs at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo in 2008 alongside Elizabethan Report.
McKenna Petty, the bassist for The Aces, said Velour was the bridge in her band’s early career.
“So much of the music industry feels so far away and so unattainable living in Utah Valley, especially,” she said. “If you could get the show at Velour, if you could sell it, if you could win the Battle of the Bands and get the recording time … it gave you action items.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Corey Fox, owner of Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, talks about the numerous bands that have graced his stage on the 20th anniversary of venue’s opening on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. Fox mentors and helps launch careers of Utah Valley Bands like Imagine Dragons, The Aces and Neon Trees.
While there isn’t any specific “x-factor” Fox looks for in new bands, he often knows when he’s in the presence of greatness. With Neon Trees lead singer Tyler Glenn, for example, Fox knew he had a rockstar on his hands as soon as Glenn took the stage.
Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds, meanwhile, has always been larger than life.
“It was super clear the connection he had with fans,” Fox said. “A lot of times after the show, he’d jump off the stage, beat the crowd to the door, and then hug every single person that left the show.”
(Jennifer Carter) Members of Neon Trees and Imagine Dragons perform with Joshua James at Velour Live Music Gallery in 2016 for the "Fix the Fox" benefit show.
Memories made through music
Over 20 years, Fox has collected favorite memories like he collects the decor in his venue. The catalog is extensive and hard to choose highlights from, but the moments that stand out the most are those that reveal the character of Velour’s community.
In 2011, when an Imagine Dragons fan named Tyler Robinson was battling cancer, Reynolds dedicated the song “It’s Time” to him during a Provo show.
“[Robinson] ended up on his brother’s shoulders and came close to the stage, and it was this moment where Dan literally grabbed him and pulled him head to head and sang directly to him,” Fox recalled. “There was not a dry eye in the crowd.”
Robinson died not long after that special moment, but it was captured in the band’s “Demons” music video in 2013. Imagine Dragons started the Tyler Robinson Foundation the same year.
Years later, the Grammy-winning rock band helped save Velour from closing after the COVID-19 pandemic left the venue with no shows for 16 months.
(Robbie Petersen) The Moth & The Flame perform for their 10-year anniversary in 2016 at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo.
In 2016, the band played a benefit show at the venue alongside Neon Trees when Fox needed a kidney transplant. Brandon Robbins of The Moth & The Flame donated his kidney to Fox when Fox’s original donor turned out to not be a match.
“It kind of shows the community that’s been built here, and the loyalty that’s come along with it, which is pretty special,” Fox said. “I don’t think that exists everywhere.”
As special as Velour is to Fox, it’s equally important to the bands whose careers Fox has helped launch. Elaine Bradley, drummer for Neon Trees, met bandmates Glenn and Branden Campbell there.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Velour Live Music Gallery, an independent music venue in Provo that has become a launchpad for Utah's biggest acts, celebrates its 20th anniversary, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
“Having Velour and Corey Fox be the linchpin of the local scene kind of launched us and gave us the confidence to take it other places,” Bradley said. “Not every city has a Velour, not every city has a Corey Fox.”
Fox’s ability to give artists a starting point — and room to grow — is what made bands like Neon Trees so successful from the beginning, Bradley said.
“The way he does it, you don’t just automatically get a show at Velour,” she said. “You kind of have to earn it.”
Emma Hardymann, whose band, Little Moon, won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2023, said the venue has a special place in her heart.
Despite being sick at her first gig there, she still fondly remembers it, opening for the spot’s Slumber Party concert with the band Book on Tapeworm. It was the first place, she said, that validated her music.
“There’s always been this sort of strange, cosmic, magical energy at Velour,” she said.
Velour will celebrate its 20 years with a series of shows over the next few months, many of them reunion shows for bands that have played there in the past.
As for the next two decades, Fox said he isn’t thinking that far ahead, but he wants to keep up with an ever-changing music industry.
“This is in my blood for sure,” he said. “This is what I know how to do.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Corey Fox, owner of Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, is pictured behind his desk on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
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