Contemporary Flashbacks (A Review of TOB Chapter 9 Championships)

It was a beautiful day for a band contest, and so I went to see most of the TOB Chapter 9 championships. In a way, it was a contemporary flashback.

As is the case this year, Huntingtown (playing 1980s MTV hits in "Video Killed the Radio Star") and Annapolis Area Christian School ("... But the Greatest of These Is Love") battled it out with two very distinctive but well performed shows. I think the recaps came down to music, which I gave to AACS but the judges gave to Huntingtown. AACS had strong effect, but maybe were dragged down by their visual performance, which is rougher than usual. Kudos to Brandwine for a taking on some difficult music by Ron Nelson ("Rocky Point Holiday" and "Sonoran Desert Holiday"). It was a good arrangement, at the right level, and therefore was well played by the kids. The guard (3rd overall) was enhanced by thoughtful design that allowed them to be featured. The third place band, Parkside, had a nicely done show that didn't quite match the title. If it was up to me, I would have called it eMotion, because that is clearly what they demonstrated - emotional variety and a lot of good movement!

The Towson University Marching Tiger Band did what they usually do - halftime! That is the first time I've seen this band, and they mixed one part corps style and two parts "college band" into a recipe for a show that was fun for the audience and great for recruiting. Did you know every member of the marching band gets a $500 scholarship?! Too cool!

Group 1 Regional and Championship divisions bookended Group 3. The Group 1 bands are smaller, and to some less talented. This is the first time that I really sat through the Group 1 bands, and I can tell you, talent is not what they lack! What they lack is just sheer numbers. I don't know if it is because the school is small, or the school district discourages music, the feeder programs are weak, or all of the above. But the enthusiasm of the kids and staff (about 1:8 staff:kids) was phenomenal. I don't think any had more than 18 winds, a half dozen percussion and rarely that many in guard. For that reason, the demand on each individual member is high, but they have to still be an ensemble. The result?

Calvert playing entertaining funk (and recovering nicely from a runaway sousaphone bell) ... Delaware Military Academy shedding their "military bearing" for some slow-then-fast rock ("Come Sail Away" by Styx and "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney's other band) ... McDonough putting "West Side Story" on the field in a way that required every member to contribute at a very high level ... Laurel having fun with music from tense and scary "Movies You Watch in the Dark" (which I think is all movies, but you get what they mean!) ... LaPlata (6 percussion, 2 front ensemble, 3 guard, 3 sax, 1 bari sax, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, and 1 trumpet) capturing the nightmarish darkness of the music by Danny Elfman ... Thomas Stone resurrecting high school memories with with the music of Styx ... and champion Chesapeake not being fearful of music and drama, bringing out the hidden talents of their kids.

I came from a small band. Memories get fuzzy after 25 years, but I hope anyone who saw us perform maybe had the same feelings I did watching these bands.

Of course, MP is in the Group 3 bands. Meade started the group with a neat take on "The Four Seasons", setting you up for Vivaldi but then playing more contemporary music ("Autumn Leaves", holiday favorites, and even "Summertime"). Severna Park followed with "Les Misrables", led on and off the field by their award winning pit crew and drum major. I have really come to admire the drum major of this band (see the previous post). He runs a great rehearsal, is positive in his criticism, friendly to everyone and yet still commands their respect. (MP, I hope that rubs off on you some!)

The State of Delaware then took the field, starting with Middletown taking a little bit of Cadets-inspired narration to a show that opened up "Pandora's Box" and landed them in 5th. Smyrna ("smur-na", not "smeer-na") also went 1980s, finishing their season with solid accomplishments and a 6th placement. It is too bad they are short of funds to go to the ACCs or even the USSBA championships. They are a good band with a good contingent of staff that still marches today.

Of the next four bands, William Penn (4th), James M. Bennett (3rd, from nearly-Delaware Salisbury on the Maryland Eastern Shore), and Caesar Rodney (1st) all performed well rounded shows. They were well designed, musically strong and competently performed. But my first place (and the judges 2nd) was the Cab Calloway School of the Arts.

A school of the arts gears itself toward cultivating the most talented visual and performing arts students. (My sister went to one of the best!) The students are good artists and musicians intent on becoming better. But in all these years I have never seen a school of the arts with a marching band. Until now. And this one is GOOD!

Performing "The Rodin 47" (go to the band website for a listen) the Cab Calloway band was not just musically strong (which you would expect) and guard strong (which you may not expect but when you think about it you should), but they were visually strong, too! The entire band was thematically costumed, and the marching was taken as seriously as the music. (My initial reaction in a text message: "I just saw a drum corps!") Since SPHS isn't going to Allentown, I wish this band the best!

So with 80s music, small bands and a nice November night, I definitely was flashing back 25 years ago to my own Texas high school days. But unlike TV's "Life on Mars", this still had modern twists!

(P.S. Congratulations to Maryland's Westminster HS on a 4th place finish at the BOA Super Regional in Atlanta.)

It's enough to make a grown man cry

Marching music has a few standard descriptors used for the uninitiated (or unconverted!), one being "Broadway on a Football Field." Last night we again scurried up to NJ - four of us on this trip - to snag a train into The City that Never Sleeps to see Phantom of the Opera at its home for 20+ years, the Majestic Theater on Broadway. (No football fields in sight, unless you count my glimpse of the Meadowlands in the distance!)

Phantom has been featured many times on a football field, from Santa Clara Vanguard in 1988 to Severna Park HS in 2008 (see photo far upper right). But occasionally we band geeks need to go back to the source of the inspiration. And I was, well, inspired!

First, Howard McGillin, the Phantom ... ohhhh, my. What -- a -- voice. He made this grown man cry. (Our group had a little connection to the cast, as the current Christine went to school with one of our directors.)

Second, when constrained by an 9 to 11 minute time limit in a show, some music gets left on the design room floor. We band geeks forget that other music is supercool ... I appreciated again Notes/Prima Donna, and on the train home wondered how that sound and music (especially with the 6/8 feel) could be conveyed on the football field.

Third, while shows I've first seen or music I've first heard on the football field (far too many to list) have sent me to the original, there is a reason to return from the familiar to see and hear the original compositions as they were meant to be performed. The visual effects were dynamic! We forget that while our stage is, in essence, a 110 x 55 yard canvas, the limitations of the theater require a lot of creativity as well.

But, really, what struck me was a question asked of a few of the cast members our group was fortunate enough to have some Q&A time with after the show (arranged via our cast connection and a contribution to Broadway Cares). Some of the cast have been in the show almost as long as the kids have been alive, you see; and even those who haven't are still performing the show night after night after night. It was asked, "How do you keep it fresh, night after night, year after year?"

These weren't the exact words, but this is what I remember: "Sometimes it is like a job, and you wake up and you think, I really don't want to do this again tonight. But then you remember that someone in the audience has never seen this before, and someone else may have seen it 12 times. You have to give them what they came for, what they are paying for - a performance, from you. They are giving you something, and you give back. It's all about the performance."

Last fall I told my son, "You guys are hitting the notes, and hitting the sets, but you are not yet performing." I hope, after last night, he "got" what I've been saying. Perform! And one day it will hit you just how utterly cool it is that someone is going to want to actually give you money to perform what you absolutely love to do, day in and day out, for 20 or 30 or 40 years.

Whether it is music or not, when Dads can help sons learn that, well ... it's enough to make a grown man cry.