Las Vegas’ Clark High Is Finalist In Metallica Marching Band Contest: Vote For Your Winner

Metallica’s songs have been played by marching bands for years. So this year, Metallica said GO FOR IT!

Two Nevada finalists are in the Metallica marching bands contest. Earlier in the year the band kicked off their first “For Whom the Band Tolls” marching band competition. They partnered up with sponsors, and they will give the winning bands over $150,000 in new equipment for their marching band programs.

The submission period ended last week, and NEVADA has TWO  HIGH SCHOOLS that are in the final voting: E.W. Clark High School In Las Vegas, and Edward C. Reed High School In Reno! Click on the links, and you'll hear just how great they both sound

According to MetallicaMarchingBand.com, the band that wins the Collegiate Division 1 will get $75,000 in new equipment. The Collegiate Division 2, and 3 winner will walk away with $40,000 worth of equipment. The winning high school band will pack up $15,000 in new musical equipment. Which seems like it should be more - especially with two Nevada finalists!

SheetMusicDirect.com supplied multiple Metallica charts for collegiate and high school bands who entered.

Some of the Metallica song they could choose from included Enter Sandman, Fade To Black, Master Of Puppets, and of course, For Whom The Bell Tolls

College and high school winners will be narrowed down to five finalists by some pretty impressive professional judges. Then Metallica will choose the final winners in each category.

There will also be a fan favorite winners for college and high school. That will all be up to your votes! Bands may sign up to participate in the Showcase category if they do not wish to compete for the prizes. Those videos will be featured on the contest page but will not be voted on by judges or fans.

If you'd like to vote for your favorite marching band, you can do it at metallicamarchingbad.com. The winners will be announced on January 1, 2024. Hopefully making it a very happy new year for a Nevada high school!

Good luck to Clark High School in Las Vegas, and Reed High School in Reno. Rock and roll, ya marching band pukes!

There are some very oddly named cities in The United States. Some are hard to spell, some hard to pronounce, and some are both. 

In our state of Nevada, there are some goofy city names. As a native of Nevada, I'm proud to say I've been to, or through, just about all of them. The strangest city names in Nevada are rich in history and our own state's story.

Winnemucca, Nevada. Where we have all spent a week there one night (old joke). The City of Winnemucca says it is "the cross-road linking the northern route on US Highway 95 from Oregon and Idaho to Interstate 80, which spans from East to West across northern Nevada, bridging the gap between central California and Utah."  It's a small town of about 8,500 with all of those things you'd expect from a small town.

We also have Beowawe, Puckerbrush (just outside of Winnemucca), and Adaven. Does that one look familiar? It's Nevada spelled backwards. Many are ghost towns now, but they're still out there.

Wendover (they've heard all the jokes, so don't even try), Weed, Jiggs, Carp, Pahrump and Bunkerville -- all in the great silver state of Nevada.

I have an old high school friend who lives in Jarbidge, Nevada. It's way up at the top of the state of Nevada, if you're looking at a map. Right near Wendover! It was booming at one time -- maybe nearly 1,500 people once settled there because of the mining boom in Nevada in the early 1900's in Nevada, according to the Western Mining History. Now, as of a recent census, Jarbidge boasts about 100 people. But might I add -- it's beautiful!

There are some hilariously named cities in the United States. And I commend those of you in Albuquerque, New Mexico; in Poughkeepsie, New York; and Meeteetse, Wyoming. I commend you for even learning how to spell the city you live in or came from.

But those are the least of it when it comes to oddly named and weirdly spelled cities in the U.S. Here are a few of the strangest city names.

You'll find Zzyzx between Las Vegas and Los Angeles just off off I-15. Nothing much there but a beautiful serene lake and a bit of a creepy abandoned mineral springs area. Some say it's haunted. You'll find some more interesting Zzxyx history in this video. Interesting, and a little creepy.

According to Grays Harbor, hundreds of thousands of tourists drive through Humptulips each year. Humptulips is a Salish word named by the Chehalis Tribe a few thousands years ago. The word and name Humptulips means “Hard to Pole.” This term refers to the difficulty in traveling the river by boat. 

Unless you are from there, go ahead and try to pronounce it. Quonochontaug, pronounced: KWAHN-ah-kahn-tawg. Yeah . . . still can't pronounce it. It means black fish. Which they probably could have named it originally but noooooo. It is known by the locals as "Quonnie." The Providence Journal says it is mainly a second-home, summer town.

Pronounced Tih-WAH-pih-tee. The name might be local slang for an “unkempt, ill-appearing person” or a Shawnee word meaning “place of no return.” It’s probably the latter. According to Toponymatic, the name might be local slang for an “unkempt, ill-appearing person” or a Shawnee word meaning “place of no return.” It’s probably the latter, but I like the first.

According to Bob Vila the town named for William Harrison Boring, a former Union soldier and farmer who settled the area. The locals say it's an exciting place to live. Humor -- I like it!

The Chicago Tribune reported that the city suggested the name Excelsior but were told the name was already taken in Missouri. They tried again and got the same answer. Frustrated, they asked the city to give them a “peculiar” name -- even writing the word "peculiar" in quotation marks. Well guess what? There's your name!

Last but not least -- Three Way! No, not what you think or wish. According to Babbel, Three Way was named after the three way split of the U.S. Route 45. Guys, that should have been your first and only guess on how this city was named.