On October 31, the Westwood Band drove over 32 hours to Atlanta, Georgia for the Bands of America Super Regionals competition.

The band loaded onto seven charter buses and departed from school on Thursday afternoon. They drove through the night and arrived in Atlanta on Friday afternoon.

The band’s first stop was Hard Rock Cafe for a quick lunch. Later that night, the band rehearsed  at Kennesaw State, getting in a last few hours of practice before the big competition.

The band performed in the preliminary round in the morning, however, due to differences in the placement of the markings on the field, the band did not feel like they performed their best run and put their best effort out there.

“The first performance was scary, but it was out of our control and we put our best foot forward.” Band President Rylan Henderson ’16 said.

Regardless, the band came in 10th place in the preliminary round, advancing to finals later that night. After taking a break between the two rounds the band headed to the Georgia Aquarium for a couple of hours of fun.

“It was so relaxing and fun to hang out with friends right after a big performance!” Sofia Lafranco ‘17 said. “It sort of got our minds off competition mode and onto a whole bunch of really cool fish.”

After the finals performance, all members of the band were overjoyed with their last performance of the show, Let Me Fall.

“After our last performance, everyone was crying and shouting.” Ally Marquis ‘18 said. “It was just a really great experience.”

The band placed 9th overall in the competition, making history as the first Westwood Band to advance to Bands of America finals.