On Sep. 21, Marching Mustangs filled the auditorium with the sound of the Beatles, showcasing their entertaining half-time show Beatlemania. “We began working on these songs for about two weeks before school started for about 8 hours a day,” senior percussionist Stephanie Gerace said.

The decision for the Marching Mustangs to do a collection of Beatles’ songs was an easy choice for the group. “We made the decision to do The Beatles for a few reasons. One, I knew I wanted to work with Tony [Kidonakis] again, and the 50^th anniversary for a lot of Beatles albums were coming up,” marching band director Mr. Schneider said.

Entering into the auditorium in an orderly fashion, followed by the color guard, the Mustangs played familiar songs like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Yesterday” for Beatles fans both young and old alike. The Mustangs were also joined by a Beatles cover band made up of Tony Kidonakis, Matt Warren, Casey McDonough, and Scott Ligon. “The band was a group of teachers that all came from teaching at different schools, and Mr. Schneider had previously worked with them,” senior member of the drum line Calvin Ives said.

While the students took a break, the Beatles cover band played songs like “Twist and Shout”, “Free Bird” and other songs picked by the Students. Mr. Kaminsky joined the band on stage for his own trombone solo during “Hey Jude.” “We try to get teachers involved to show the students you can still play your instruments and put your money where your mouth is,” Mr. Schneider said.

For the grand finale, both the students and the Beatles cover band joined each other on stage for “Hey Jude” which lasted well over five minute and earned both groups a well-deserved standing ovation.

By Alexis McDaniels

Photo by Iza Mikus