Every year Thousand Oaks High School hosts a fundraising event called Sounds of Conejo where many of the local Conejo Valley Marching Bands are invited to perform. It’s the first event of Regiment season and it gives the teams a chance to perform in front of a crowd without being officially judged. It was so fun and it was great to be back into Regiment Season with all the kids and families.

There were plenty of parent volunteers so I got to sit in the stands and just enjoy. The Low Brass section getting into place and ready to go. There are 3 Sousaphones this year: Quinn, Jason (a freshman), and Danny who played with Quinn at Tuba Christmas.

This years performance is based off The Wizard of Oz and it’s called “Not in Kansas Anymore”. It’s still early in the season so the kids have about 3 minutes of the show down and will keep adding to it until it’s about 6 minutes.

**At minute 2:15 Quinn & ‘Seabass’ have a short duo so keep your eye out for that (I zoomed in)**

After all the performances, all the bands line up and march out onto the field. It’s pretty impressive to see 500 or so kids marching out.

Shake it Off by Taylor Swift. The kids that play in “the pit” play big marimbas and xylophones that aren’t wheeled back onto the field so they just line up in the front and do crazy dances.

At the end of the night the kids are “dismissed” and chaos ensues — this is their favorite part of the evening. Last year the Sousaphones ran in circles so Quinn kept that tradition going this year.

These kids were at school this morning at 9 am practicing their routine so it was a very long day for them but they were so darned happy!

This years show is going to be a good one and it will be fun to watch them add on more songs, marching, and props. Let’s go Westlake!