On Thursday, Feb. 9, 10 MHS bands will come and play at the annual Battle of the Bands. Every year, the Freshman Class hosts the Battle of the Bands as a fundraiser toward their Senior Farewell and there are a few changes in store to make this year’s competition better than ever, Lisa Sidney, one of the chair people of Battle of the Bands, said.

Now, while people are enjoying the bands, they can also eat. Sidney said there will be soda, candy, popcorn and pizza, all ranging from $.50-$2.00.

Also, the judges will be different this year. The Wild Horse Elementary music teacher who has a rock band and others will be invited to be judges and give their opinions on the acts as well as audience members voting for which band they like best by purchasing tickets and putting them in the band’s jar.

This year’s Battle of the Bands will have many kinds of bands, with new and old faces alike. Drew Glick, senior, isn’t new to Battle of the Bands. Glick was in the winning group last year and this year will be competing with another band, Silent Uprising.

“My competition seems pretty strong and I think this show will be really great,” Glick said. “ I am really excited for the show this year.”
On the other end of the spectrum is Michael Kern, freshman. Kern said he only saw one band at auditions, but they were really talented and he feels the other bands will be just as good.

“We did OK in our auditions except for a few mistakes, but we will be our best for the show, like all the bands,” Kern said.

“This year’s competition is almost like a little American idol,” Sidney said. “There will be something for everyone. We have cover bands and bands playing songs they wrote. We have acoustic acts and a jazz quartet.”

Sidney said she is really impressed by all the bands in the competition. She said they are all different and some have more advanced playing, while others have great stage presence. Sidney said a past winner of Battle of the Bands came to MHS to watch auditions and was really impressed.

“Everyone was really good and I think that every kid should get a chance to shine because not every student is into sports or theater or any other clubs,” Sidney said. “Even though there may be only a handful of kids that feel this way about music, they deserve this chance.”

Freshmen Principal Dr. Jennifer Sebold helps organize and audition bands. Dr. Sebold said that even without good sound equipment, costumes, or good acoustics, every band sounded amazing.

“I’m really looking forward to the show and my family will definitely be there,” Dr. Sebold said. “If any of these bands had songs on iTunes, I would buy them.”