A lot of people are outsiders during high school. Sometimes teased and tormented, these folks know they’re a little different. Sometimes they feel isolated and sometimes they gleefully embrace their status outside of the status quo. And sometimes, in life as in fiction, marching band provides the perfect chance to make yourself heard, even when you march to the beat of a different drum.
1982. Jack is a high-performing high school student, while Brad is more of high-performing rebel. They have only a couple of things in common: both are in Varsity Band and both have been labeled Band Fags. It’s a title they’ve earned by having no girlfriends, but a lot of girl (space) friends. As Jack and Brad try to navigate the social pitfalls of high school, they also develop a close friendship that could lead Jack to question who he is and who he wants to be.
Class clown Chunk knows exactly where he falls in the social hierarchy. Frequently teased and bullied, he’s had enough and has decided to draw a line in the sand… directly in front of the school’s soda machine. Unfortunately, defending his right to quench his voracious thirst for delicious cola pits him against the social elite, the cheer leading squad that’s determined to take over the vending machine funds previously collected by the marching band. Joined by other underdogs, Chunk inspires an epic battle between the jocks and misfits for control of the beverages and school.
Elsie wants to excel in orchestra. In fact, she wants to be a star like her father and grandfather. To reach that goal, she needs to be admitted to a super-competitive summer music camp. In order to qualify for camp, she needs to ‘expand her musical horizons’ by joining her high school’s marching band. Normally polished Elsie is confronted with polyester pants, playing a new instrument, and performing while standing up. Now everything she touches seems to turn into a disaster, especially her relationship with Jake, the cute trumpet player she meets on the first day.
When Liza’s band loses its funding before her senior year, she does what she always does: pulls out some clipboards, gets organized, and gets ready to fix it. In this case, she literally discovers her Destiny, a luxury cruise ship hosting a spring break talent show with a $25,000 grand prize. Liza knows that in order to reach her goal, she needs to maintain her laser focus, but that’s easier said than done when she’s surround by a prankster jock, her suddenly-surprisingly-hot ex-boyfriend, and her ex-bestie who happens to be her band’s biggest competition.