One & Two & Ready... Go

This weekend we got to experience our kids in their first marching band competition.  It was actually just an exhibition.  A preview show of what to expect from the bands this season.  Each band ran through their show while marching then they played just the music while standing still.  The Butler County Marching Band is the second largest band in the state of Kentucky with 155 marching members.  My son plays the snare drum, and while my daughter normally plays the flute, she is only in 8th grade so can't formally march on the field.  She is in the "pit" and plays the keyboard.

Preparations for the show began many hours before the actual show.  It's a huge undertaking.  Practice run through the show, eating, dressing, hair/make up, and motivational speaking.  I was awed.

A few other bands played before them, but to be honest, it was mostly a blur.  I was just excited to see them hit the field.  The band director not only does high school band (marching, pep, concert, etc.), he also teaches middle school band (6th, 7th, and 8th grades) and beginning band to 5th graders.  He deserves to be knighted and probably needs a huge pay raise.  These bands are good and I'm not just saying that because my kids are in them.

Their show is entitled "Stained Glass" this year.  Moments before they walked onto the field, the sky began to change colors.  Pinks, purples, blues.  We'd been watching the radar for an hour.  A nasty storm cell was moving our way and I thought for sure they would not get to perform.  Instead Mother Nature gave them an amazing backdrop.

About 15 minutes after they were done, amid chaos of packing equipment, gathering kids, changing from uniforms to regular clothes... the bottom dropped out of it.  We nearly died because my husband is an asshat who kept refusing to pull over even though I knew (and he knew too!) damn good and well, he couldn't see a thing in front of him.  He finally relented and pulled over at a little gas station in the middle of nowhere.  We got snacks and let the heavier rain pass by.

It was chaotic.  It was a mess.  It was their first performance of the year.  It can only get better from here.