There is a lot to say now that I can, but let's start with a band. My high school band was small; micro by Texas standards. The one I saw on Saturday was larger than the one I was in, but it is in the small Group 1 on the Tournament of Bands circuit.
This band took a complicated concert band literature by David R. Holsinger (based on scripture - 2 Samuel 11, 1 Chronicles 20) and made it about the modern war. I have a long memory, so I remember the Cadets doing this music in 1993, before most of the kids doing this show were even born. Whenever a band tries to do music that a corps has done, especially one that won a DCI World Championship with the show, I wonder what the staff was thinking. Why do this to the high school kids, setting them up for constant criticism by failing to achieve what kids 3 to 4 years older dedicated a summer to perfecting?
Sure enough, it started out that way. The first part was a bit too literal for me, like the staff was thinking about how to make the music work on the field from an interpretative standpoint, but gave up.
But when the black scrim came down between the guard and the band, magic began. The sheer scrim with a soldier on one side mirroring the guard member on the other, touching like a reflection on the Vietnam Memorial Wall ... it was a reminder of the sacrifice that others have given, no matter what your opinion is on this current war.
The band placed its uniform helmets on the ground and then moved away, leaving the form where they stood as a silent, graveyard like reminder. The band and the guard were elsewhere on the field, but the image of the space they left was moving me and the audience to near tears. Then came the haunting Taps, as the solider walked away with head high, into the backfield corner.
Oh yes, I remember the scrim and the helmets from other drum corps shows (Suncoast Sound, Phantom Regiment). But this time the unique take in the modern setting just clicked, and I hope everyone was suddenly jolted back to understanding that a real war has real sacrifice.
Thank you, band, for honoring the memory of our fallen soldiers, and reminding me of their sacrifice.
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Marching band is like that for me. The kids moving me to cheers or tears, and making me think. Yes, adults design, but the kids make it happen, and these kids did. Their size was irrelevant - larger bands performed that day but the performances were flat. Maybe since it wasn't under the lights (it was an afternoon show), they weren't into it.
This band was willing to say, "Forget how small we are, because we can perform." I hope through this blog I'll introduce you to - or remind you of - the commitment of performance in band and in life.
No matter what the size of your "band", performance is what matters.* What you get out of it will be what you put into it. If you think you need to be in a big band to "win", then look inside. Small may make you think it is hard, but performance when you are out there exposed makes the achievement so much sweeter.
I got a lot out of my marching band experience. We weren't much - legends in our own mind - that the effort in my last year that resulted in a II rating in the only UIL contest I remember - tops in our class! - the fun of putting a show on the field - that sense of achievement drives me even today.
Well, that and the two biggest lessons I learned from my band director:
1. "Always leave early so if you're late you'll be on time."
2. "I don't care if you have been in this band room since 4 this morning. If you are not in your chair, warmed up, ready to go, when the bell rings, you are late!"
* A shout out to the 1983 Laredo Nixon HS Band, Texas Class 5A champions - the smallest of the finalists that year.
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