LORENA, Texas — From "Enter Sandman", "Master of Puppets" and beyond, the Lorena High School Marching Band is performing some of Metallica's greatest hits — rocking their way to the finals of a national competition.
“A small school in Lorena, you never expect a band from this small school to have such a big sound,” said drum set player, James Webb.
Lorena High is one of the top five finalists in the Large High School Category for Metallica’s “For Whom the Band Tolls” Marching Band Competition.
“It took a lot of time and dedication, being dedicated to coming to practice to work the focus up and let’s get started," said trumpet player, Zachary Alleccia.
"Everyone was ready. We are ready to show the world what Arena band has to offer.”
“The whole band is so so excited that Metallica gets to see what we’re doing and what we can perform,” Cameron Hesse said.
The members of Metallica will select a band to win $15,000 towards band equipment.
The competition is special for many band members, including Hesse.
His brother, who’s in the band at West Texas A&M University, is a finalist in the college division of the contest.
James, who picked the songs the band performed, said win or lose, the world is getting a chance to see how incredible their band is.
”This group of kids put in the work every single day and we all work hard," James said.
"In the end we created something like this — it’s so fun."
There’s also a fan vote part of the competition — if the band also wins that means they could win $25,000 in total for their band.
There's still time to vote and support the band — the deadline for voting is Dec. 31.
The winners will be announced in January.
To check out the high school performances click here.
