On Friday, October 27th, the High School Band had their first band concert of the year and it was quite successful. For many ninth graders the concert kicked off their next fun-filled years in band. Owen Edstrom, a ninth grader, stated that his very first band concert was, “Absolutely astonishing”. Another 9th grader, Nate Harmson, stated that he thought the concert was “Totally tubular.”.  It seems that most of the kids who were nervous before the first concert became more confident after the success of this one. Even though the band is predominantly 9th and 10th graders, they still put on an excellent performance. Caden Bell, a tenth grader, couldn’t have been happier with the first performance as he stated, “It was a good concert and a strong start to the year.”  Most kids are ready and excited for the next concert, which will be sometime in early December. The group has been working hard on their music and it shows in their performances. Their first concert was filled with energy, excitement, and lots of fun. While the first concert represented the beginning of many kids’ high school band careers,  the other side of the spectrum hosted the seniors, who kicked off their final year in band with a superior performance.

The band played two songs at the concert: Semper Fidelis and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with the latter of the two hosting some special guests. The two stars of the show were seniors Grant Schlichting and James Watson. The two Elvis “impersonators” took to the stage for a portion of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, called “7 Fat Cows”, to perform the song (Schlichting) and dance along (Watson). Both boys put on a wonderful show and had the audience on their feet by the end of their time in the spotlight. Upon returning to his chair, which is next to mine on stage, Watson looked at me and said, “That was really fun”, while smiling from ear to ear, hardly able to contain his laughter. Schlichting stated that, “It was quite the experience. I tried hard to work on my singing and in the end it was enough to get everyone on their feet and clapping.” With one final “Uh thank you, uh thank you very much” the first band concert was over and done without a hitch. The only hope for the band now is that they can live up to the high standard that they have set for themselves.