By Taylor St. Germain
News Editor
The Mira Costa Music Department held the annual Pops Band Concert at 7 p.m. on June 1 in the Costa auditorium.
Pops was the band’s last concert of the year. It ran for 90 minutes with a 10-minute intermission.
“You would think they are professionals because our program here is one of the best in the nation,” former Manhattan Beach Mayor Russ Lesser said.
The bands performed songs that were once chart-topping singles. According to Mira Costa band Director Joel Carlson, he chose songs people would recognize.
“Mr. Carlson always tries to picks songs the audience will potentially know, so it could be anything from a classic to a currently popular hit,” sophomore band member Tony Nguyen said.
The concert band performed first with its selections, “Legends of Rock,” “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “Avatar.” During their last piece, a circuit trip caused the lights to go out, pausing their performance. It was resolved in five minutes, and the song was resumed.
“We were waiting backstage to go on, and we heard this loud banging noise,” Carlson said. “Some of the kids thought it was coming from upstairs, which is where the power room is. I thought the circuit breakers needed to be checked and sure enough, that was it.”
The Mira Costa jazz band performed “I Wish,” “Kid A,” and “Samba Del Gringo.” Solos were performed by Ben Kartub, Michael Jedynak, Ryan Chase and Miles Johnson.
“I thought we were going to do ‘Sir Duke,’ but we had only started working on that piece on Tuesday,” Carlson said. “When we sat down and read through it, we decided we would perform ‘I Wish’ instead.”
Symphonic band then played a tribute to Led Zeppelin, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” and “The Incredibles.” The tribute to Led Zeppelin consisted of “Rock and Roll,” “Kashmir,” and “Stairway to Heaven,” among others.
“I think we played the Led Zeppelin tribute well, but it was hard to feel the real energy of the piece until we listened to the actual song,” freshman band member Sarah Kennedy said. “Mr. Mancilla came in and coached us on how to slouch and look like true rock gods.”
Wind ensemble closed the show with “American in Paris” and “Les Miserables.” They received a standing ovation.
“I really enjoyed seeing the kids’ talent,” Mira Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “Here the music is really well done.”
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