Concord, Pittsburg High Schools to resume rivalry during Fleet Week band challenge
Two rival East Bay high schools are among those set to battle in the San Francisco Fleet Week High School Band Challenge.
For the past three months, Natalie Cervantes and the rest of Concord High School's band and guard have been practicing for Fleet Week's High School Band Challenge.
"We have been practicing during zero periods. We've been here for 12 hours every Tuesday and Thursday," said Cervantes, a senior at Concord High School.
This is the first year Concord will compete in the competition. They'll have 20 minutes to wow the judges with their routine.
Cervantes says they're more than ready to meet the moment with a set list full of crowd-pleasers.
"These songs are, like, you find them on TikTok. I find them all the time on my Instagram feed, so it's stuff that we as teenagers can relate to," said Cervantes.
But before they can walk home winners, they first are going to have to take down their biggest rival and last year's champion, Pittsburg High School. Martin Lejano, Concord High's band director, says the two school's rivalry goes back years.
"Concord and Pittsburg have a history of competing against each other at the Walnut Festival, things like that, so yeah, we're super excited to throw down against them," said Lejano.
Cervantes says the band and guard are confident they can pull off the upset and hope their performance will be the one to solidify Concord High's band as one of the best in the Bay Area.
"It's all friendly competition. We love other bands, and we will support them you know," said Cervantes. "But it's a battle, it's on like Donkey Kong and hopefully we win.
The competition kicks off next Monday, October 9th at 10 a.m. at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell.