While the majority of Flower Mound was asleep, members of the Marcus Band were wide awake and ready for their area competition.
The rainy and windy conditions would be an obstacle to overcome. As long as there was no lightning in the area, the competition would go on.
Pulling an early performance slot meant that the band’s day would last 19 hours, the longest yet of the season.
On the bus ride to McKinney stadium, the weather worsened, the wind and the rain intensified.
This performance would determine if the band earned a spot in the state marching contest in San Antonio — but it seemed doomed before it started.
***
Unlike most performances, the ramp prop used for soloists and features couldn’t be used because it was too wet, and the band couldn’t use the feathers for their marching head wraps.
As they uncased their instruments, everything got drenched — every member of the woodwinds and drumline using their ponchos to cover their instruments rather than themselves.
Once all instruments were unloaded from the trucks, the band divided into their section circles, where each section goes through their pre-performance rituals to get rid of any worries.
Looking around, the morale of every circle seemed as gray as the sky that morning.
After section circles, the whole band came together as a big group.
Jeffrey Jones, the head band director, noticed the morale of the ensemble.Rather than permitting the rainy skies to dampen the group’s emotion, he reassured everyone that, despite the circumstances, doing their absolute best was all that mattered.
He then asked the band to close their eyes.
“Who are we here for?” Jones asked.
“The Marcus band family,” the entire band answered.
“Who’s in that family?”
“Those who come before us,” the band responded in unison.
Jones explained how former band members helped elevate Marcus Band to its current respected status, how the band wouldn’t be the same without their contribution.
“Who else is in that family?” Jones continued.
“Those who come after us,” the band replied.
He instilled that it was challenging days like this that paved the way for the next generation of Marcus Band.
“Who do we have to live up to?” Jones asked.
“Those who stand beside us,” the band exclaimed
Nobody else matters more than the people they performed with.
“Open your eyes, turn to your right and let’s go to work,” Jones continued.
As the band opened their eyes, the gray sky and rain were unchanged,but their collective downheartedness had been replaced by purpose and enthusiasm.
***
As the band walked to the stadium from warm ups, there was a stark, nearly palpable difference between the self-doubting band that turned off the bus and the inspired band getting ready to take the field for their preliminary performance.
As they took the field, band members noticed the rather sparse crowd was filled. How did the band members react to this? What did it make them feel?
Though the conditions were dismal, the band brought a new light to the stadium, smiles showing on every performer’s face as they finished.
Coming off the field, every member was happy knowing that they gave it their all. Their hard work paid off, taking them to the competitions finals where they would perform last.
As the band returned to school for lunch, the bus was as joyful as ever. Everybody was drenched with rain but had smiles on their faces. As the ride went on, the bus grew quiet. Fatigue was catching up to them. They knew the remaining 12 hours of the day would seem like a lifetime.
A sense of exhaustion filled the Marcus hallways as the band walked through. A reminder message was sent to everyone saying that the band could use the down time to nap.
After hearing the news, every member of the band rushed to their assigned sleeping rooms, turned off the lights and took well-deserved naps before their afternoon rehearsal.
***
On the commute back to McKinney, the band was gearing up for this next performance to be their best one yet. As they got off the bus, they saw the Hebron band walking over to their warm up area.
As defending champions of the area marching competition, Hebron was looking to keep their title. Hearing them warm up gave Marcus chills; they knew that Hebron was going to be hard to beat.
Yet the feeling of doubt in the air came to an end as Mr. Jones got on the microphone once more and asked the band to close their eyes.
“It’s just another day in the office for the Marcus Band.” Mr. Jones said. “What are y’all going to do differently?”
“Nothing,” the band answered.
He then asked them to open their eyes and gave the floor to the drum majors.
“Hearts on fire,” senior head drum major Kate Reynolds said.
“Minds on ice!” the band responded together.
***
As the drum major brought the band to set, the crowd went silent and the band became still.
The nerves from the huge crowd seemed to disappear along with the audience.
The stadium was so quiet, a cough could be heard from across the stands.
The drum majors began the piece. The warm sounds of the brass’s staggered entrances gave the performance a sense of warmth and comfort with the mellophone solo layered on top of the brass like a cherry on top.
All of a sudden, the band went quiet and the stadium grew still; the only sound was the mellophone soloist.
Then, as the announcers’ booming voice: “With their show titled ‘In a New Light’, please welcome from Flower Mound, Texas, the Marcus High School Marching Band.”
As the announcer uttered his last syllable, the band unexpectedly turned around and played with the most warm but powerful sound.
Despite only hearing one note being played, its impact caused the audience to rise to its feet and cheer.
After every movement of the show, the audience roared with excitement, eager to hear what was next.
During the closing movement of the show, the battery came from the back of the field to the front and center, slowly raising their dynamic volume to create a sense of anticipation.
As the battery raised their dynamic, the band followed their shaping. Seemingly out of nowhere, the battery played a triplet roll at a height “up to their eyeballs” that cut through the band’s sound and hit the audience like a punch.
As the battery’s roll kept going, the band’s phrase seemed to keep growing in volume, and the audience was already cheering. Then, when they heard the final crisp release of the show, the audience exploded in cheers.
The smiles on all of their faces glowed under the stadium light and, in that moment, both the audience and the band knew that they were bound for state competition.
