Six bands, two hours, amazing sound

For one night only, it’s Thunder Over Aurora. Six bands attended this year: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, Newton Falls, James A. Garfield, Chardon, Hudson and the host Aurora.

Aurora started the show off by marching and playing pre-game. Pre-game includes “Uprising” by Muse, “The Star-Spangled Banner”, and “Aurora Alma Mater”. It did not change from what they normally do for pre-game.

Next to take the field was Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. They played current songs including: “Feel It Still” by Portugal, The Man, “How Long” by Charlie Puth, “I Don’t Care” by Fall Out Boy, and “Finesse” by Bruno Mars. They may have been small, but they were loud.

The Newton Falls High School band wowed the crowd. They began by getting in formation with the percussion in the field and three rows of brass and woodwinds on the sideline near the home stands. While in these positions, the tubas ran through. They played four songs: “Believer” by Imagine Dragons, “Sing” by My Chemical Romance, “Cold Sweat” by James Brown, and the Newton Falls Fight Song. Again, small but mighty.

Up Next, the James A. Garfield Marching Pride. They were slightly larger than the previous bands and just like those two, this band was loud. Their song selection included “Irresistible” by Fall Out Boy.

Following the James A. Garfield Marching Pride was the Chardon Hilltopper Marching Band. They played numerous songs including “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Rock and Roll All Nite”. Some characteristics that made the band stand out is they have baton twirlers to go with their highlights and the drumline was lit up with red lights.

Second to last was the Hudson High School Swing Marching band. This band is impressive, to say the least. They are able to make it seem as if they have twice as many people marching than there actually is. The songs, which included “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman movie and “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada were up-beat and intriguing. Their marching was cool to watch; they are able to make different shape as they march around the field. Overall, the band is very up-to-date with their uniforms, marching, and songs.

To close the show was the Aurora High School Marching Band. They played “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire, “What is Hip” by Tower of Power, “Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas, “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind, and Fire, “Vehicle” by Ides of March, and “Late in the Evening” by Paul Simon. What is Hip featured the great flag line. To finish, the band played the fight song as they marched off and Senior Drew Albrecht did a flip off the podium to end the night.

A negative among the many positives was it was only two hours long. Next year, they should invite more bands so it can be a wider selection of performances.

Overall, it was a great show and I would recommend people attend next year. The bands obviously spent a lot of time preparing and the preparation paid off. This show is unlike any other.