Congrats to DSA’s Last Minute, the winner of the Student Band Contest! Seven talented Denver Public Schools student bands competed for a chance to perform onstage at the Ogden Theatre as part of Sing It To Me Santa, and Last Minute, a student band from Denver School of the Arts came out on top. They received the most “likes” on their video submission 
ight! This is an amazing opportunity for these Denver School of the Arts students to experience what it’s like to perform in a major venue.
We were able to meet up with the winning band members and learn a little more about who they are and their thoughts on the upcoming event. Whenever not practicing with the band, juniors and sophomores at Denver School of the Arts, Caleb, Caroline, Catherine, Evan and Sam participate in various sports, leadership roles, volunteer, and take AP courses in their free time. The group formed in March 2015 and has performed at two gigs so far for different fundraisers. But they admit that none of the venues have been quite as massive as The Ogden Theatre. Not only is the band excited to meet Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters and other big bands, they are excited to get the chance to perform where their favorite bands play on a regular basis. Sam said, “Being able to stand on the same stage of bands that we adore is crazy.”
The moment the band was aware of the opportunity to play at the concert, they had friends and families helping them reach out far and wide to get community support of their video. “It really was a group effort,” said Catherine. The group made fliers and posters to get the word out at school and posted on their own Facebook profiles as well to generate interest.
As of last week, the band was still undecided on what song they’d like to perform at the concert. Caroline explained, “It is hard to pick one song that represents a group of people. It will be exciting to see what song we end up choosing for this.” Caleb and Evan hinted that they might perform one of their original songs and said that although a little risky, it would be a fun chance to show their creative side.
The band is
very enthusiastic and is already working to get friends, family, and classmates to come and support them on what is currently the biggest gig of their musical careers. They wanted to be sure to thank donors and the DPS Foundation for giving them the opportunity to perform at such a prestigious venue. When asked about their band name, Last Minute, they discussed that an hour before their first gig, they still hadn’t decided on a band name. When laughing about how “last minute” their decision was, they realized that flying by the seat of their pants and being spontaneous is something that really describes the group as a whole. They joked that we could expect them to show up at The Ogden Theatre “last minute” but promised that they were so excited that they’d be sure to arrive “fashionably early.”