Marching Band is a huge part of Robyn's life. It basically takes over for a few months. It was okay that I was behind on the blog, because the Marching Band post is better if it is all together, but it sure is a chunky one. This year there are more behind-the-scenes pictures and you get a better idea of how it all works. So pull up a chair, grab a drink, and settle in for some prime band shots.
The Marching Band season usually starts in June with the parade season. Robyn doesn't do the 'marching' part, so she is absent for June and most of July. Thanks to Covid this year, everyone else was absent as well. The parade season was completely canceled.
Happily, the school decided to do the rest of the Marching Band season, despite knowing that Covid would change things and possibly cancel the experience.
Percussion camp happened at the end of July. That was when Jane came to stay with us for a few days while her family was out of town. It was followed shortly thereafter by Band Camp. The Hulse's returned the favor and helped shuttle Robyn around because we went to Bear Lake. While we were swimming and getting sunburned, Robyn was playing piano and getting sunburned.
Yes, the kids wore masks a lot of the time. If they didn't use their mouth to play their instrument, they wore a mask all the time. Because there is marching involved, the band has to learn the routine as well as the music. They don't always carry their instruments when getting the steps down. Here you can see the instrumentless band learning steps.
There are all different kinds of rehearsals. Sometimes indoors, sometimes on the football field.
Often just on a side field where staff members could use the lift to get a bird's eye view of the how the band is progressing.
Now bring back the instruments and add some Colorguard as well.
The Pit seems like they may be a little too close to the front. Kind of like the movies when you sit up front and have to arch your neck to see the screen.
I'm not sure who had Robyn's phone during some of the practices, but I do appreciate the cool photos they took. Or maybe you should say HOT photos. These kiddos were so desperate for a little shade, they often sat under the marimbas.
Here's another sweltering day. Sure hope those kids are wearing sunscreen. Robyn sure didn't wear enough. She got a pretty wicked burn.
Got love some good peeling though.
At the end of camp, there is day where every section wears a different color. Robyn has worn black and white, but this year was orange! Zing. Naturally she wanted to make shirts again. She came up with a fun design, but it was a bit detailed.
She gave up on the words and stuck with the Gummy bear, a mandatory snack in the pit. Go orange!
She also started a Pit Banner. I'm not sure if she finished it, but it looked really cool.
Once school started, the kids were only there after school, but there were still fun things going on besides practice. One day Preston brought in a huge cake decorated like a snare drum. He was nominated for Homecoming and all the nominees made cakes. I'm not sure if they judged them, but I think it's one of the coolest cakes I've ever seen.
There's Dallin, trapped in an instrument locker. Question is, is he looking for some quiet time or did he get in trouble?
There are usually half a dozen performances during the season that end with a big trip down to St. George. Due to Covid, all of that was abbreviated. The parent night was canceled and the first opportunity we had to see them was in Herriman. So we bought tickets and traveled out there. The band shirts came in right before. I think they look really cool. The theme of the show this year was Wildfire. I don't remember all the of the music they played but I know they ended with the Firebird Suite that is in Fantasia 2000.
There was some debate about what the Pit would wear. Last year they were set apart from the band and they wore time period clothing to go with the Day of the Dead theme and ancestors. This year, they decided to dress the pit similar to the Colorguard. At least that was the story we heard. But they didn't look like them at all. They were wearing black unitards with some green accents. I think it was to symbolize the regrowth after the fire. Instead, they just looked a little silly. I don't think boys should ever have to dress in unitards unless they wrestle.
And it was just the Pit. The rest of the band was in uniform.
Then there was the props. Last years banners were really cool. This year, they had very sad straggly trees. It leaves a lot of room for improvement next year.
We got to see a lot of other bands while we waited. There were some really cool props and others that seemed just as strange as ours.
It was super windy that day and anything without a solid foundation was getting blown over. This band had columns to go with their Greek hero theme. They all toppled over at some point.
Other bands had more solid ramps and stands that were used well.
Then it was our turn. Go unitards! I mean, go Pit!
We took video of this performance, but it was so windy, you hear mostly wind, so I'll play a video from another performance later. The best result of this competition was a Percussion Caption and enough parents complaining that they decided to scrap the unitards.
And so the season moved forward. They added rain sticks to the performance. Very cool.
They had another performance, but we didn't go to watch. However, KSL was so nice to live stream the show, so we were able to watch from home. Here is a screen shot of the band ready to play.
Robyn took a couple pictures. Notice the band uniforms. :)
Parent night was rescheduled and I'm so glad it was. It was really cold the night we went to watch, but it was one of the best performances. They played it twice. The first was focused on the music, so the band didn't move around. That was the one we recorded. Also, I'll warn you that I like to zoom in on Robyn. She doesn't love that and calls it the MOM recording. But that's who I came to see, so why wouldn't I zoom in? The second was the full performance, but we just took some pictures.
That was the pinnacle for me. Especially since I've seen how far they've all come during this season. And what amazing kids who have been flexible and dealt with so much change and disappointment in many ways. For instance, the solo at the beginning was supposed to be Sophie, but she ended up in quarantine and Leah took her place. How hard for both of them and the emotions that must come with it.
The season basically ended on Halloween. They didn't go to St. George. Instead, they drove about 20 minutes away to perform their last show. Robyn took some last selfies to save some memories of the day.
We watched it on KSL again. (Thank you KSL!!) I feel like they did a great job, but the colorguard was a little off. They didn't place well and the only award they got for the season was the Percussion Caption from the earlier show, but I feel like they should be more proud than ever. They have been stretched and have come out victorious.
Can't wait for next year!
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