Obviously, something was up at lunchtime Thursday at Sebastopol's Analy High School.
Barricades were up in front of the quad's senior steps and Principal Chris Heller was looking like he'd swallowed a canary.
With many of the school's 1,280 students present, Heller announced into a microphone that Analy deserved to celebrate being named No. 184 on Newsweek's 2011 list of the nation's best public high schools.
The principal then invited the kids to put their hands together for -- Wonderbread 5, one of Sonoma County's favorite and zaniest party bands.
Last Sunday, the band entertained San Francisco 49er fans during a halftime performance at the home game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The band members -- two of the five of them Sebastopol residents -- bounded onto the senior steps in American-flag costumes and their trademark shaggy wigs.
In a flash, a large clutch of students danced and hopped as frontman Jeff Fletcher egged them
on to sing along with the band's high-energy repertoire of cover
hits from the Beach Boys to Lady Gaga.
Pretty soon, teachers were dancing, too.
The midday concert -- a first for Analy, maybe for any California high school – was a hit for student Alexia Moreno Espinoza. The 16-year-old figured when she saw the barricades and the principal that something special was happening, but not this special.
"We didn't imagine this," she said.
Playing at Analy was something of a homecoming for drummer Tommy Rickard.
"My parents went here, and my aunts and uncles," said Rickard, himself a Santa Rosa High alum. "I live right across the street, though!"
The band's Mike Taylor also moved to Sebastopol not long ago.
As students quit dancing and headed off for their afternoon classes, Sean Lea, 16, confessed, "I don't think I'll be able to concentrate during sixth period."
Lea said he was impressed by the principal's surprise. He added, "We definitely earned it."
You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 521-5211 or chris.smith @pressdemocrat.com.
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