I’ve never encountered a leader like Blake before. He had a way with people, with kids, that I have never seen equaled, and I doubt I ever will.
Deb was a senior. She was one of our best indoor cymbal players, but when outdoor season started in the fall she went back to her flute. That is, until her senior year, when she decided to defect. She became…ONE OF US.
1990 was a big year for Lock Haven’s marching band.
Do me a favor. Go get one of your junior high yearbooks and take a look at the eighth graders. Holy shit, what a mess! What a collection of Picassos! Noses shifted all over the place, acne scars, teeth that look like they belong in other heads. Eighth graders, man. Woof.
Marching band season ended at a freezing cold football stadium in November. But since indoor season ended in May, we got to go to the beach.
I believe we started out The Beatles Year in the intermediate division, but it didn’t take long for our scores to push us up to advanced. Now we would find out if we were just a junior version of the Velvet Knights, or were we something more.
Showmanship and intensity, pride and dedication. Those weren’t the only things we had going for us.
We were also really god damn entertaining.
Kids are the worst.
Take a marching band, remove the horns, put them in a gym instead of a football stadium and poof! You have Indoor Percussion.
So let’s get into the basics for those of you unfamiliar with the world of competitive marching bands.