SAN ANTONIO – Thousands of high school musicians will be putting on the performance of their lives at a premiere marching band competition at the Alamodome.
The Music for All Bands of America Super Regional Championship attracted 64 high schools this year, which was an all-time high, organizers said. All of the schools, except for one, are from Texas.
More than 15,000 students will be strutting their stuff.
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Members of the New Braunfels High School band said they left it all on the field.
"We had a really good run, and I'm really hopeful that the judges will agree," said senior drum major Tristan Rogers.
"This is pretty big. I don't think we've been to this competition in at least eight years," said senior drum major Brooke Moeller.
"I mean it was a really great year to go out with a bang," said senior drum major Lauren Callahan.
The super regional competition is among 20 going on across the United States.
The preliminary competition features all of the bands, which will be evaluated by a panel of seven nationally recognized music educators and marching band experts. The top 14 bands will advance to the evening finals competition, which will ultimately name the Super Regional Champion.
"You've been working since July on preparing for this one moment in time, where you have [an] 11-minute show that is the biggest thing that you've ever done, in the biggest venue you've ever done," Music for All CEO Eric Martin said.
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The judges will be looking at three main criteria: Musical performance, marching and overall effect.
"There's a lot of good bands here because marching band is, like, a big thing in Texas. And some of the best are here," Moeller said. "We're just really excited to go head-to-head against them."
For the seniors who will be taking their talents to college, this is their last performance on a gridiron.
But the music and the memories will play on.
"I think we did really good. Everyone left the field smiling," Callahan said.