The "Anarchy in the U.K." crossed the pond to bring down the house at the Dartmouth High School auditorium.

On Saturday, Feb. 20, Dartmouth High premiered its newest band and colorguard performances.

Running from noon to 9 p.m., the excitement for the newest show was palpable even with 48 performances filling up the night. Dove Furtado, the president of the Dartmouth School Music Association, said that students were thrilled about new theme.

Playing to a medley of British hits from pop to punk rock, Dartmouth’s newest percussion show is miles away from the calculated precision of 2015’s bee-themed field show, “Into the Hive.”

The students strutted their stuff in front of an enormous Buckingham Palace backdrop, dressed sharply as Redcoats and British Foot Guards. However, students soon shed their straight-laced costumes for round sunglasses, ragged bowl cuts and beehives iconic of the 1960s, and the ragged “God Save The Queen” shirts, colorfully dyed hair and give-‘em-hell attitude of the 1970s punk scene.

The lively medley channeled “Anarchy in the U.K.” by the Sex Pistols, as well as iconic artists like The Rolling Stones, Adele, The Beatles and a reimagined take on the British national anthem.

The show ended with dancers, clad in the Union Jack flag, beehives and bobs, rocking out alongside the percussionists, whose bearskin caps had been hiding shaved faux hawks and blue and red hair. The final notes of their performance were drowned out by shouts of “God save the Queen!”

Abigail Cabral, 13, was excited by the prospect of the unconventional performance and the chance to take on a different persona.

“It was very exciting for me because I really felt like this was something I could get into character with and something that I could really transform into a different person with,” Cabral said.

The theme is selected a year in advance, and students only find out the theme one to two weeks before the first performance. After two months of practice, some weren’t sure what to expect in the weeks leading up to the first performance. However, the final product was certainly worth it.

“When I heard about the costume changes and the ripping off the sleeves, it was just insane to me because how are we going to do that? How are we going to fit it in?” said tethers player Logan Bolarinha, 15. “This week, we really committed to it. It was hectic, everybody was frustrated at times. But honestly, this first performance, I’m really proud of it. It was awesome.”

“It’s really great to put it all together,” said dancer Ariel Enos, 16. “The number of people here really pull a performance out of you. It’s so great to get that feedback in return.”

“The uniformity at the beginning and then ripping it away brings more life to show,” Enos added. “I got to [dance] up on a table and show how the character changed. That was just the most fun because you just get to rock out.”