With marching season just around the corner, Antioch Community High School band students are eagerly preparing their routine. Once the hustle and bustle of the season is over, the band does not get a break as other sports or activities; they begin Pep Band season. 

During varsity basketball home games, band students gather together in the stands for Pep Band to play catchy songs and keep the crowd’s energy high. 

“We usually play a lot of pep tunes,” senior drum major and Pep Band member Adalia Tate said. “We’ll play Build Me Up Buttercup, Hey Baby, Crazy Train, [or] the Spider-Man theme song, basically kind of the same as football games, but we always try to throw in new songs every year.”

The environment in the North Gym changes when students and community members they hear the sound of the pep band playing after each plays. Although there are not distinct Pep Band rehearsals, the students dedicate themselves to memorizing the songs they need to know to show the crowd a good time.