One of the things that the end of summer and the beginning of the school year brings to mind is marching band. I enjoyed playing in the pit during marching band. I was always afraid that I was not coordinated enough to actually march, so when Mr. Sturdivant asked me if I wanted to play in the pit because of my keyboard experience, I agreed. And I did enjoy that.
I didn't always enjoy band camp, though. It was hot. It was always hot. Of course, being in the percussion section, we had already had one week of camp just to ourselves. One of the drawbacks of being in the pit was that you're not moving, which ironically is why I joined the pit. Standing there in the heat was almost unbearable at times. But I still enjoyed watching the shows come to life out on the field.
Admittedly, once I came into marching band, we weren't great. The year before I joined was Mr. Sturdivant's first year and that halftime show was quite entertaining. He did things that our marching band had not done before. The color guard got new uniforms and performed with different types of flags. The show's ending brought the opening number full circle in an unexpected way. It was one of the most enjoyable shows the band had ever performed, so I was quite anxious to be a part of it.
Our show my freshman year didn't really capture that same energy and spirit, although it tried. Our opening number was pretty good and it popped visually. We added a drill team that year. Sadly, they only twirled their rifles for about 30 seconds at the beginning of the show, never to pick them up again. And the flags kind of got left behind because so much attention went to the drill team. And, honestly, our trumpet soloist was not very good. He was a great musician but didn't have the chops for the solos. I can say that because I am not a soloist either, even though I spent years being first clarinet. I simply wasn't soloist caliber. Our ending didn't work either. Unlike the year before, there was a musical bridge transitioning back into the opening number. We just simply stopped playing the last song and started playing the opening march again. It was very abrupt. Not to mention that the big push in our closing number, Can't Help Falling In Love, was supposed to be shaped like a big heart. That poor heart never held its shape LOL
Still, I enjoyed it. I loved going to competitions, even though we almost never won LOL There's just something fun about those. The weather is nice and cool and crisp. It's fun to see what other bands are doing. There is just an energy being at that kind of event and I crave. I would love to find some competitions to go to this year....if there any even being held this fall. I should look into that.
Still, memories of being in marching band, mostly, are enjoyable. I miss the people. I miss the music. I miss the pageantry of it. It was a good thing.
BTW, pictures are just random from the internet, not of MHS Marching Band. Would love to see pics and vids of us if anyone has them to share!
That is all.
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