Never on a Sunday

The 1991 Star of Indiana (now known as Blast!) won the DCI World Championship with an unbelievable mellophone line and a fantastic drill. I was fortunate to be in the stands that night. and found the last 30 seconds utterly amazing then ... and still do!).

Looking back more than 15 years later, the Roman Images show’s solid religious overtones still come though. (It's a comment heard about the book American Band as well.)

Two of the best bands I saw this year are from religious private schools – the consistently solid Lancaster Catholic this year performing a show Requiem. But (without being a homer) my one of my favorite shows of the season was performed by Annapolis Area Christian School (AACS).

This year TOB Groups 2 and 4 finals were on a Sunday. Lancaster Catholic placed 2nd in TOB Group 4. But AACS did not complete in TOB Group 2, where I believe they had a show that could have placed them in the Top 5 (where places 2-5 were separated by 0.8 points!). Like Eric Liddell, the Scottish missionary and Paris Olympics competitor portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire, AACS doesn't compete on Sundays.

Many consider AACS's shows overtly evangelical. I think this is a band that knows what it is. And I found this year’s show with the too-long-title got better with every viewing, and I wish I could have seen it at the USSBA finals, where they finished 5th).

It was clear that the kids loved performing it. I bet the directors loved teaching it. And I know the audiences (of all faiths or even non-faiths) loved feeling it and responding to it. (Click here - see for yourself!)

What I liked about this show was how it showed what C.S. Lewis called "Mere Christianity." It is a passion that is genuine and deep, not the religion of flashy televangelists. It is the Christianity I aim for: You know where I stand because of the passion of performance. It isn’t forced. It isn’t flashy. And it was something else.

You see, for me marching music is a true, three-dimensional, audio-visual experience. It is a group experience. So is worship.

So all that begin said, I respect AACS’s decision not to perform on a Sunday. But, in a way, I wish they had, using their show to remind others that on that particular Sunday morning, that there is always time for organized worship experience, if even for 10 minutes.

PHOTO CAPTION (partial): AACS garnered a fifth-place award, scoring a 93.4, which is believed to be the highest score ever attained by an AACS band in competition. (Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)