Home Depot Center News

2004 Winners Redan High are First to Repeat at the Battle; All Proceeds from the Fourth Annual Event Go Towards Preserving Music & Arts Education

CARSON, CA (Saturday, November 17, 2007) - In an entertaining night of marching band competition, the 2007 Battle of the High School Marching Bands, presented by The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation, crowned Redan High School (Stone Mountain, Ga.) 2007 Champions. Redan earned the title in 2004 at the first-ever Battle of the High School Marching Bands and is the first high school to repeat at the headline event.

I.C. Norcom High School (Portsmouth, Va.) took second place and local favorite Inglewood High School (Inglewood, Calif.) came in third at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. Also announced tonight was the 2007 Best Drill/Dance Team Award to second place overall I.C. Norcom High School. David Starr Jordan High School (Long Beach, Calif.), Percy L. Julian High School (Chicago, Ill.) and Xavier Preparatory High School (New Orleans, La.) were among the other finalists who competed. All proceeds from tonight's event go to The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation to disperse funds to elementary, middle and high school arts and music departments across the United States.

Redan High battled it out \"southern show style\" and won $10,000 to purchase new instruments or uniforms for their school, plus gift certificates from Yamaha and Remo. Redan was named No. 1 by a panel of judges from some of the nation's most prestigious marching bands, including Dr. Arthur C. Bartner, Director, University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band; Dr. O'Neill Sanford, Director, Norfolk State University Marching Band; Albert L. Jackson, Band Director, Langston University Marching Band; Millicent Grant, Dance Team Alumna, Grambling State University Marching Band; Hugh W. Barnes, Jr., Coppin State University Marching Band Director; and Ronald G. Turner from Florida A & M University.

In addition to the marching band competition, the show featured celebrity guest speakers and performers, including Kanye West, Common, Bobby Brown and Lisa Leslie all via video, as well as legendary percussionist and four-time event alumna Sheila E., Lalah Hathaway, Warren G., O.N.E. and Sharon Leal. The halftime show featured Verdine White who performed live with the University of Southern California (USC) Trojan Marching Band in a special, one-time-only duet to Earth, Wind & Fire's hit song \"September.\"

The Battle of the High School Marching Band raises more than $100,000 annually. All proceeds benefit The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

About The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation & The Home Depot Center

The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation was established to provide financial and in-kind support for educational, recreational and social service programs which improve the lives of young people in the Greater Southern California region. The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation has given more than $400,000 to youth organizations since The Home Depot Center opened in 2003.

The Home Depot Center is southern California's home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The $150 million, privately financed facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center features an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby and other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 10,000-seat facility for track & field and lacrosse, the ADT Event Center (a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome for cycling) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The Home Depot Center is home to three professional sports teams - Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, and Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) Los Angeles Riptide. Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also home of the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) High Performance Training Center and is the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). The David Beckham Academy for youth soccer, Andre Agassi's Safe Passage All-Stars at-risk youth tennis program and Athletes' Performance's training center for elite and professional athletes are all based at The Home Depot Center. The Home Depot Center has additionally been designated official training sites for USA Cycling and USA Track & Field. For more information, please visit www.homedepotcenter.com.

About the VH1 Save The Music Foundation

Since 1997, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has successfully restored and sustained instrumental music programs in 1,500 public schools in 100 communities across the country, including Memphis, Houston, Chicago, New York, Denver, Baltimore and Milwaukee. Over the past ten years, various artists and celebrities have shown their devotion to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation by partnering with the organization as they've reached out to struggling school districts across the country. Celebrities including Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Sting, Billy Joel, Kiefer Sutherland, John Legend, Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, and Jewel have donated their time and efforts to the organization in attempts to raise awareness about the importance of music in a child's education. To date, The Foundation has provided more than $40 million in new musical instruments, affecting the lives of more than 1 million children. For more information on the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, please visit http://www.vh1.com/partners/save_the_music/.

Contact
Alison Groendal
The Home Depot Center Communications
(310) 630-2032