News Area bands do well at 5 Seasons Invitational

The best high school bands in Iowa receive invitations to events such as the 5 Seasons Invitational which takes place each year at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids. 

Vinton-Shellsburg, Benton Community and Center Point-Urbana were among the 11 bands in Class 3A invited to the competition which took place Saturday. 

The VS band performed its "Music Behind the Mask" routine featuring songs from "Phantom of the Opera and "The Mask of Zorro. 

CPU featured some of America's most famous music in its "Music Royalty" routine, which included "Stars and Stripes Forever," "Stompin' at the Savoy" by Benny Goodman, Elvis' "All Shook Up," Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and ended with Michael Jackson's "Thriller." In the final song, band members marched like zombies and the song ended with a scream from one of the members. 

Benton's show used the theme "Transforming Darkness," which included music from "Star Trek: Into the Darkness," "Transformers: Arrival to Earth," and "Thor: The Dark World."

Benton finished 6th, CPU, 7th, and V-S, 9th, in the judges' scoring totals.

The bands will compete in the Iowa High School Music Association (IHSMA) State Festival next week.

About Kinston Stadium

The 5 Seasons Invitational and one of the IHSMA State Festivals take place each year at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids. More than a half-century old, the stadium is named after one of the earliest villages established in the Cedar Rapids area in the mid 19th Century and named after its founder, David W. King, who also created one of the early ferry services to connect the Cedar Rapids residents on each side of the Cedar River. 

See photo albums of the bands below:

Vinton-Shellsburg

Benton

CPU