Dressed in their finest attire, Branson students danced the night away at the Winter Formal Saturday evening, Feb. 1. The dance was a highly anticipated event, featuring an electrifying performance from Branson’s very own Rock Band.
Winter Formal took place at the Peacock Gap Golf Club in San Rafael. A change in scenery from Homecoming’s location in the Commons brought lots of excitement leading up to the evening. Students let loose and had fun with friends on the dance floor, singing along with the Rock Band performers and enjoying delicious desserts.
Rock Band kicked off the dance with their 80-minute set, welcoming excited students at 8 p.m. and drawing a large crowd leading all the way up to their finale.
“Especially at the beginning, you kind of have to bring your own energy, so the crowd brings it back,” said lead singer and guitarist Tom Lardner ’25. “I think we did a really good job this time because there weren’t a lot of people in the beginning, and then once more and more people got there, we kind of brought up the energy and started playing some some good songs and everyone got into it.”
Rock Band has been practicing since the beginning of the year, working hard to learn songs and establish a set list for the first of their two big shows of the year.
“I loved it, I think it was great, and that a lot of the senior girls really stood out,” said Bailey Hedrick ’27. “I really loved listening to the songs, like ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay. That was my favorite.”
After the rock concert, which included popular hits like “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand and Amy Whinehouse’s “Valerie,” concluded, the music switched over to a playlist to keep the dance floor buzzing.
This pre-made playlist was a change from Homecoming, where music was put together by a student DJ.
“I think I prefer having a DJ because it really brings the vibe up and makes it more fun,” Hedrick said.
Students can look forward to Rock Band’s spring concert on May 1, which will be held in a new location.
“For the spring concert, we’re moving it to the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, instead of HopMonk in Novato,” said Lardner. “So it’s going to be a bigger environment so a lot more people can come.”
