By Kyle Melnick, Washington Post | A Virginia high school marching band’s recent performance abruptly paused as musicians wearing black uniforms put down their instruments and walked behind a makeshift stage. About 30 seconds later, they emerged on the field through a cloud of smoke donning black, white and gray wigs as they played a rendition of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
As part of an inaugural national competition the renowned heavy metal musicians created, Oakton High School’s band re-created a Metallica concert on its field in Vienna, Va. Mainly using traditional marching band instruments, Oakton’s band played five Metallica songs and wore costumes adorned with wigs and chains to appear like Metallica’s guitarists and drummers.
More than 450 high schools and colleges entered the competition. On Sunday, Metallica announced that Oakton was one of the four high schools to win. The Fairfax County school will receive $15,000 to spend on musical equipment.
Jamie VanValkenburg, Oakton’s band director, told The Washington Post that he thought the competition would be fun, but he didn’t expect to win.
“I’m still kind of processing it,” said VanValkenburg, 48. “It’s like nothing that’s ever happened to our program before.”
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Read the full story here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/01/13/oakton-metallica-marching-band-competition/
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