Written By: Miles Watts, Staff Writer
HOSTING: Poly’s band and color guard hosts the Lester Oaks Field Tournament this year.
Most people just see the performance of a group, but are not present to see all of the work that goes into the whole day itself. This is especially true for the group that is hosting the competition which happened to be Poly High School’s Marching Band and Color Guard last Saturday. They held the Lester Oaks Field Tournament on the 21st of October at Ramona High School. The dedication and perseverance of the kids and adults in the program is quite apparent once one sees what goes into a “competition day.”
The band and color guard met at Ramona at 10:30 a.m. to get ready for rehearsal from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They all had a long day ahead of them, since the schedule said for them to be dismissed at 10:15 p.m. But, they were ready for it – as they had been rehearsing since June to showcase their show titled “Wonderland.” The Band Director, Ms. Hernandez always finds rehearsal “extremely entertaining” and is “excited about our progress” in completing the show. The Friday night before, they had finished staging and performing their fifth movement, “Alice’s Theme,” and were using this rehearsal time now to see if they would perform it that night. Rep after rep in the hot morning after stretching allowed for plenty of water breaks. At first, the band, the color guard, the front ensemble, and the battery divided and worked on music in sectionals. At 12:15, the four groups assembled for a full ensemble. Eventually after working on movement five, it is decided that it will not be played later in the day as they were not prepared completely to perform it. Although the rehearsal was supposed to end at 2:00, it extended to 2:30 as they needed the extra time to do complete runs of movements one through four. Eventually, practice ended and all the equipment was transported off the field and to the front of Ramona’s gym. Hot and tired, everyone was ready for lunch. Given approximately an hour break, everyone was reinvigorated and ready to warm up before the show.
Amanda Gibson (10) warming up with the drumline to prepare for the performance.
At 3:50, the band and color guard went to get into uniform and costume, and at 4:30 they were all ready to warm up. They are all divided into sections again and at 5:00 they come together for the full ensemble before the show. It was much cooler now and there is no marching but the other bands warming up served as an annoying distraction from performing. Eventually it was time to push to the field. Many members have props they carry onto the field and all the members of the front ensemble are responsible for pushing their instrument. With the aid of volunteers, Poly alumni, and parents the band pushed swiftly to the field.
As the announcer tells Poly to push onto the field and that they have four minutes until they must be ready, the nerves skyrocketed. It instantly becomes a race against time as the front ensemble members push their equipment to the field and plug everything in, people responsible for props making sure they are in the correct place, and the color guard unfolding the mat. But with one minute remaining, the band is ready and the show starts.
Brooklyn Walk (11) dressed as Alice smiling and waving to the audience.
The show is based off of the movie, “Alice in Wonderland” and details the journey Alice embarks upon when she is in Wonderland. The first movement, “White Rabbit,” is a mysterious opener that details falling down the rabbit hole. The militaristic feel from the snare drums at the beginning contrasts heavily as the tempo quickens and the synth plays a sample which sends all the people on field into a craze. This sample segues into the second movement, “Welcome to Wonderland.” Its chaotic and upbeat feel surprises the audience as it is even more of a difference between the first movement. It then transitions to a short swing section that still maintains the liveliness of the first part. It then returns back to the original tempo and ends with a grand, bombastic ending after difficult passages played by the marimists. The third movement, “Tweedle-dee-doo,” is a short percussion feature with plenty of visuals from the color guard and band. Short phrases and sharp visuals give this movement a sporadic tone and a jumpy, excited feel. Movement four, “Where is my Mind,” is the ballad of the show this year and is very different from the previous songs. It is very slow and lyrical as the synth plays a beautiful and soft melody. It has a mysterious tone to it as there are hushed whispers and a heartbeat-like sample played.
Then the head drum major, Kayley Timm (12) gets off of her podium to join three other saxophonists for the saxophone quartet. “[It’s] really fun to watch and conduct,” Kayley remarks but to have the assistant drum major take over is something quite rare. Only the front ensemble and saxophone quartet is playing for the first half where it builds to a climactic rise. But, this is not the apex of the movement as it builds again to a grand and pulchritudinous phrase from the winds. It then dies down and goes back to when the saxophone quartet was playing. But instead it is just one of the four playing as he plays his solo in one of the chairs. The band put on a wonderful show with just four of the movements.
Tyler Peterson (12) after he finished playing his solo at the end of “Where is my Mind” While Isis Artry (12) dressed as the White Rabbit ascends to the platform.
After their performance, everyone quickly drags everything off of the field for the next band to perform. They bring everything back to the trailers, get undressed, and load the trailers back up. They all then got a snack from a table with food on it provided by the boosters. They then walk over to the bleachers to watch King High School’s performance. After King’s show, it was time for awards and the announcer ranted about “poly pizza” and how everyone should buy some. Eventually the student leaders in their uniforms from the other schools walked over to the field encircling the awards table guarded by Poly’s own leaders. Award after award was given to the 1A, 3A, 4A, and 5A division participants, although Poly was not publicly given a score since they were hosting the competition.
After the awards ceremony, the competition concluded and it was time for Poly to clean up the stadium. Boxes of concessions were packed up and put into cars, flatbeds were filled up with carts, and the air was full of pride as everyone was proud of the show they put on. “I’m really happy with how it’s turning out,” commented Amanda Gibson (10). Although it is a difficult show, everyone has persevered and their grit and determination is apparent. Student leaders were sent to Poly to help unload the trailers and so they did that. Thanks to the band parents and boosters, it was completed quickly and everyone got out of Poly before 10:30. This is the only second competition for the band and color guard, but the potential for a great and profound show this fall season is very apparent.