The St. Louis High School band students traveled to New Philadelphia, Ohio, to participate in the annual Panstock, April 26 to April 28, 2024.
Students left early in the morning to travel six hours and at the end of the ride, they dropped off their stuff in the hotel and continued traveling to the New Philadelphia High School to practice until the show. In the end, the festival ended with the famous drummer, Jonathan “Sugarfoot” Moffett, performing a spectacular act for hundreds of people.
Sophomore Gracie Lombard, cello and lead pan player, openly expressed her opinions about the event. According to Lombard, “The whole trip was really amazing for my first time, and I would definitely do it again because of how much fun it was. The best part of the show was playing ‘Bat Country’ because I really like playing that song. What I also thought was cool was that I played with Johnathan Moffet. He played for big artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Elton John. The only thing that went wrong was the dance moves in ‘Hot Stuff’ because I didn’t really have any room to dance.”
Another avid player of the band is senior Hannah Bobzien. She spent seven years in the steel band, remembering all the best parts of the steel band. “I remember doing this two years ago for the first time, and I loved it and did it again for my senior year. If I could come along a third time, I would absolutely love it. I love the people I’ve met in New Philadelphia, but the performance itself was really amazing. Nothing really went wrong. The best part of the show was being able to make little dances with the other kids on the spot. The whole thing is really amazing.”
As the end of band approaches for the school year, the steel band only has three performances left, the POPS! Concert, a performance in Ithaca and the Highland Festival Parade. Until the time comes, the students will keep on practicing learning new notes and playing for the upcoming showcases.
