St. Louis Jazz band and Steel band had been practicing in the cafeteria from Nov.18 – 22, getting ready for the Nov. 23, performance in the cafeteria called Blues in the Night. Blues in the Night started at 7 p.m. and ended around 9:30 p.m.

One student who attended Blues in the Night was Mikayla Haag. She was very excited about it because her brother Matt Haag performed that night. She stated, “Blues In the Night went very well. The kids performed beautifully, and the food was great. People had a very nice time, including my family and me.” She believes that the performance went well because everyone around her and in the cafeteria was complimenting the bands, and tapping their foot or finger along to the music. Haag’s favorite part of the night was hanging out with her family and listening to the music.

Another student, Alexander Hardy, performed for the Steel band and Jazz band that night. Hardy had a bass guitar solo during the song “Never gonna give you up.” Hardy was nervous and not ready to perform; his nerves were eating away at him. He believes that everyone who was performing was excited. Hardy stated, “I think Blues in the Night went very well. We got a lot of tickets sold, and it was just an all-around success. I think performing wise, we all did very well. Everyone did great on all the solos and everything else.” Hardy said that the band had been working on the songs for quite a while now. He thinks all that hard work paid off because he strongly believes and knows that Blues in The Night was an overall success for the bands and they should be very proud of what they did that night. 

Abigail Francisco is also one of the students from SLHS to perform at Blues In the Night. This was Francisco’s first year since last year Blues In the Night was canceled due to snow days.  She was prepared to perform because she worked hard on her part and didn’t stress about it. Francisco stated, “My favorite part of the night was when the high school steel band went on to perform, and we all were dancing around on the stage and having a good time.” Francisco had a bewildering experience on stage; her bloodstream filled with joy and happiness. She was ecstatic, feeling high and mighty while performing. She could feel the other performers giving off the same energy which made her more happy and excited.  She believes that the band performed very well because everyone knew what they were doing and there wasn’t any confusion. She said that Mr. Lawhorne made sure that everyone was comfortable with their part and had it down so they wouldn’t be stressed or scared about messing up on stage. He made it so they had enough time and weren’t on a tight time limit that would lead to more stress on the kids.

In the end, Blues In the Night was a success for Francisco and the rest of St. Louis High School.