Each school in the West Sequoia League chooses contestants to participate in the annual talent show. As the colored lights on the stage of Ground Zero flicked on, the contenders lined up in the audience to wait for their turn, Feb. 26.

“The Slash,” also known as Chris Murrieta, performed a hard rock/metal style of music for each group of judges. Throughout the past week, the finalists have traveled to the participating schools to play in front each of the student bodies.

While Murrieta did not win, his two-handed neck action, tapping (which involves the strumming hand reaching up to the neck of the guitar and tapping the frets in order to double possible playing speed when combined with the action of the hand that’s traditionally on the neck), created a stream of cheers from within the campus audience.

Another addition to Murrieta’s similarity to the original “Slasher,” he used a method of speed picking. In essence, “The Slash” strummed as fast as he could while remaining on tempo and banging his head.

At the end of his song, “Rock Anthem,” Murrieta threw up his hand and formed the symbol of rock, signaling “rock on” to the crowd.

More photos on the talent show will be coming in the next couple of days.

For more information on the talent show, visit Musical medley, Heartfelt audition or Campus to host WSL talent show.