The West Lauderdale High School marching band took the field at regional state qualifiers on October 11, 2025, receiving an overall superior rating of 1. The competition, held at Neshoba Central high school in Neshoba county, secured the band’s spot at 4A state championships, which will take place on October 25, 2025.

Their show titled “Bend, Don’t Break” contains compositions of “Fix You” by Coldplay and “I Hear a Symphony” by Cody Fry. The show includes vibrant visuals, with marchers dancing across the field using an array of different colored flags and props, including yellow poles that can be bent or moved around the field.

Throughout the season, the band practiced 5 days a week with 2 after school practices. On practice days, marchers would spend time learning drill, memorizing sheet music, or learning flag work for their show. The morning of the qualifying competition, the band showed up to practice at 8am.

Senior trumpet player Nathan Vetter shared his thoughts on the early morning rehearsal:

“I think we definitely needed the rehearsal. It helped us grow as a band, being able to work with it one last time to make it the best run of the show yet.”

During these rehearsals the marchers had to focus on multiple tasks at once, stepping on beat, step sizes, counting, artistic expression, and overall style. During the 8 a.m. practice they had to focus on every detail they learned throughout the season.

The band director, Kristopher Grant, emphasized the importance of that extra practice on competition day:

”The practice got them to think only about the show, to focus on what was important right then, and it gave them time to run the show in a stadium”

The WLHS marching band has dedicated the past few months to perfecting their performance. On October 25, they’ll take the field again and find out how far that dedication got them. With their hard work and passion driving them, they are poised to leave it all out on the field.