Last night, Tonya and I decided to go play tennis at Robinson High School since it is up the street from our house. While we were hitting, the band was practicing around on the side of the school. We could hear them as we have before. The night before, we could hear them practicing late into the evening from our living room since we had the windows open. While at the courts, people starting coming from all over and walking towards the football field. Then the lights came on and we wondered what was going on. Tonya saw a cart go by with the pit instruments on it and wondered if maybe they were going to practice out on the field. We had had enough tennis for the evening and decided to go see what was going on. As we walked over to the football field, we saw the band marching from the parking lot. We knew they were going to run through their show.
This was the first time they had performed in front of an audience this year. I guess this was a chance for their family and friends to come see this year's show before the season started. It was interesting watching them go through segments of their show. The director would have them start in a certain place and run until they got to another point and then stop. Once they went through the different parts, he had them start from the top and perform the entire show.
I was amazed at how you can stop in the middle and tell them to go back to a certain point and they can know exactly where they were on the field at that exact point. I used to think that marching band was for geeks that couldn't play real sports. But now that I have seen practices and have gone to many Drum Corp International shows, my mind has changed. It is remarkable how they can remember where they are supposed to go and what formation to do and count how many steps left or right and stay synchronized with everyone else on which foot they should be stepping with. Oh and doing all of this while playing the music that they have memorized. It is just amazing.
I have been spoiled by going to see so many DCI competitions where they are some of the best drum corps in the world. My favorite corp is the Cavaliers. In my opinion, they are THE best corp in the world by far. But I have never seen high school marching band competitions and didn't know what to expect while watching Robinson play. You could tell that there were a lot of young freshman who had never marched before. Unfortunately for all of them, their first performance is during the football game tomorrow night and they will not be practicing between now and then. I am no expert, but they have a long way to go. They made a lot of mistakes last night and look like they need a lot more practice. But I know they will get better as the season rolls on.
I'm glad that we happened to be in the right place at the right time to check out their show. It was entertaining and I can't wait to see more of the competitions.
