Black and red may be the schools colors, but this year the band added a splash of blue to their normal uniforms.

“Our normal uniforms didn’t match the show,” band director Daniel King said. “The theme of our show this year is jazz-based and named “Blue”. It didn’t seem right to have a color as our show name and not incorporate it into our uniforms. Since we couldn’t afford to buy new uniforms for the entire band for only one season, we just decided to add some blue accents to the original jackets. We bought bright blue plumes and, with the help of awesome band parents, added some blue sparkle on the hats and jackets. It really brings the show to life.”

The new look of the band uniforms are a welcome change for some members.

“I think the new uniforms are great,” sophomore Elizabeth Howell said. “It really ties our show together. We’re representing both our show and our school. All the decoration is temporary too, so we can change it again next year. I especially like the plumes.”

However not all members are on board with the new additions to their jackets.

“I don’t really like the blue concept that we’ve added to our uniforms,” senior Kate Hawley said. “I feel like the light blue clashes with the red on our uniforms and makes them look bad.”

Even with the controversy over the updated uniforms the band program felt it necessary to do.

“The theme of the show is blue,” head director Jeff Jahnke said. “If you’re a music person that knows band tunes or knows the music you would get that theme because all the titles have blue in some way, shape, or form. Also, in addition to the music there is an effect caption box on our scoresheets at competitions and one of those is the coordination of your visual presentation to the music and we thought the additions to the uniforms would be a helpful adjustment.”