Bands Aplenty

The Composition Rock Band, Advanced Rock Band, and Jazz Band all embarked on a trip to Victoria via school bus this past Wednesday to take part in The Victoria Music Festival: School Band Division. They were led by their directors, Mrs. MacIsaac, Mr. Newns & Mr. McGill. The Advanced Rock Band, The Usual, was up first.  They delivered stellar performances of three of the songs they learned this year. Hannah C and Ciel A-B both delivered fantastic vocals. Miles J rocked out on his guitar and Daniel M gave it his all on drums. They had the honour of performing at Concert For A Winter’s Eve last December, and they continue to improve every time they perform. Next up was the Jazz Band. Directed and trained by Mr. Newns, they performed an astounding set of three songs. Emily L and Liam L were a remarkable team on their tenor saxophones and Sabrina W was astounding on her alto sax. This group will be competing in Music Fest Canada this May, an admirable feat. Last of the day was the Composition Rock Band, Radio Attractive, which performed three original songs. Bryn G performed mind-blowing guitar solos and Evan S was energetic and spot on with drums. Performing their own songs made their performance an emotional experience that added depth to their set. The Rock Bands made history this year by being the first rock outfits to perform at the festival. Traditionally, orchestra type set ups are the main participants, but our rockers were welcomed with open arms, given positive feedback from the adjudicator, and have been encouraged to come back. You can see Radio Attractive and The Usual perform next at Regatta this weekend and The Jazz Band will be performing next at The West Coast Jazz Festival in Nanaimo or you can catch them at Concert For A Summer’s Eve in early June. Jaclyn C, Alexandra ‘16