-Rock City Classic: Battle of the Bands Rematch

Rock City Classic: Battle of the Bands Rematch

By: Lynique R.

Photos by: Annica H.

Can I have a drum roll please? The Dynamite Rays and the Marching Hawks marching bands battled each other to determine which high school has the best marching band on St. Thomas. This event was held at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center on Saturday March 26th.

“It is very important for us, the Dynamite Rays, to prove ourselves the second time around because we feel that we ARE the better band, and we just need to show it to everyone else,” said Stacy M., an 11th grade member of the Dynamite Rays Marching Band.

Hosts “Culture Man” and Kirk Francis kept the crowd entertained the whole night with their humor and crazy comments towards the opposing teams. But they weren’t as entertaining as the two marching bands that were filling the gym with their beautiful music.

To know which marching band would compete first, the host tossed a coin, and the Marching Hawks won the coin toss and chose the Dynamite Rays to go first. The first round allowed twenty minutes for each band to do their performance. There were a variety of songs that Kean played which included, “All of the Lights” by Kanye West ft. Rihanna, “What’s My Name” by Rihanna, “Move” by Ludacris, and “Just A Dream” by Nelly.

After they each did their twenty minute performance, the Dynamite Rays percussion section dazzled the crowd when they creatively used pots, pans, chairs and garbage bins to portray their musical talents. “Oh my gosh you see that? They are using things other than drums to drum,” said an excited Kean fan in the crowd.

Next was the “Stand Off” battle where the two bands’ percussion sections did a drum off, which simply means one band plays first, then the other answers back.

The audience was treated to guest performances by Tia Maduro, Reinaldo Clarke, Andre McCurry, D’Neisha Thomas and Adream Phillips who sang along with the band. These individuals attend the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School.

After that part of the competition was completed, both bands came together and played “We Are The World” by Michael Jackson as a tribute to Karence DeCosta, the 2009 Carnival Queen who died in a car accident on her graduation night.

At the end, The Dynamite Rays Marching Band received trophies for “Crowd Pleaser,” “Best Musicality,” and for their “Stand Battle Performance.” The Marching Hawks received trophies for “Best Auxiliary” and “Best Percussion.”

But when all the points were tallied, the Marching Hawks band was victorious against the Dynamite Rays. When the two bands received the news, a member of the Dynamite Rays expressed his disappointment at the news, “We tried our best, our blood, sweat and tears was poured during the preparation of this show, and I’m very disappointed with the results.”