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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Here’s an unlikely, but very cool pairing: Hockey and the Sonic Boom of the South. The Jackson State band will be on hand when the Jackson Bandits play their home opener on Friday night at the Mississippi Coliseum against the Baton Rouge Kingfish at 7:05 p.m. The Boom will perform both outside and inside the Big Barn. Hockey and music lovers should get those tickets now.

Here’s what the Bandits say:

The Jackson Bandits hockey team will kick-off their 4th season in the Capital City this Friday with the help of tailgating fans, indoor fireworks and members of Jackson State University’s “Sonic Boom of the South.” The game starts at 7:05 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum, but fans are encouraged to arrive early for pre-game activities. For ticket information, call 352-PUCK.

To set the mood for welcoming the Bandits back to Jackson, fans are encouraged to come out to the coliseum at 5:30 p.m. with all their tailgating essentials. About 50 members from Jackson State’s “Sonic Boom of the South” will perform outside the coliseum from 5:50 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., and will then march into the coliseum to get fans ready to welcome the Bandits to the ice. The Boom will also play the National Anthem prior to the game and the J-Settes will perform during the first intermission.

The first 1,000 fans in the door will receive a special team poster. Jackson Bandits hockey is affordable family entertainment, with ticket prices ranging from $10 to $19. If you’ve never experienced Jackson Bandits hockey, this is a game you won’t want to miss!

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.