By Della Nuno & Courtney Trapane

BAND

Red sequined banners stripe the front of each white jacket, the trumpets sing out and the infamous drum line pulsates each measure to “Be Prepared” from Disney’s The Lion King. Since the middle of August, the CHS marching band has been drilling various pieces for the Friday night football games and ultimately, for The Little Hawk marching band invitational.

“Marching bands come from all over Iowa to compete,” said junior saxophonist Taylor Berg. “It’s like the marching band equivalent of the Olympics!”

On Saturday October 2nd from 9 am to 5 pm , roughly twenty bands from around the state will be competing on Bate’s Field while City High hosts the invitational. For eight hours the groups will be closely followed by several judges, and watched by the anticipated spectators. The event will come to a closing with City’s finale performance at around 3:15 pm and an award ceremony.

“Since we host the event, we aren’t judged,” said senior percussionist David Steinkruger. “So it’s a way for us to get the show on the field and to get a feel for what it will be like playing at State.”

Though City High is not judged, they still put all of their effort into the finale performance before the awards ceremony. As for playing for fun vs. taking it seriously, band members voted unanimously.

“We take it seriously,” Steinkruger said. “The drum line always works hard and we will do the best we can. We do not want hear the judges talk shit about our playing.”
By Della Nuno

This year, among the traditional City High School “Fight Song,” they will also be playing some familiar Disney villain songs.

“We’ll be playing ‘Be Prepared’ from The Lion King, ‘Savages’ from Pocahontas, ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ from The Little Mermaid and, The mob song from Beauty and the Beast,” said Berg. “I personally really like our last song: ‘Poor unfortunate souls’ because we get to scream and sneaky step!”

As for the competitors, the band members said that their talent is always outstanding.

“It’s cool to watch the other shows. It’s always interesting,” Steinkruger said. “The drum line wants to have a little drum line “duel” or play off with our neighbors on the west side, but they always flake and run away from the size of our drumsticks!”

COLOR GUARD
By Courtney Trapane

Sweat rolling down faces, seven in the morning, dew touching the tips of the muddy field and sloppily rolled up pants are the key ingredients for a normal morning on the City High Color Guard team. Or as you might know them, the flag girls. Spending anywhere from one to a max of five hours on a daily basis, the girls are very committed to making their routine flawless for the Marching Band Invitational on October 2nd. The invitational will take place on Bates Field.

“I usually wake up and come to early-bird practice, more often than not- running off 5 hours or less of sleep.” said senior color guard veteran, Jenny Barnes.

“All people see is the halftime and pre-game show, but they don’t really know how much time and effort goes into making it what it is. I think if people really knew how much every single person works on the show and the time they put into it, they’d appreciate us in a different way and stand behind the band more,” said Amber Merriwether.

But how do they do it? How do they make sure they meet all of the requirements? And what REALLY goes into making the show go right and get the crowd going?

Early mornings (7am) and late night practices (7-9) are nothing new to the color guard. The band and visual ensemble also have a workshop-type event a week before school starts again, dubbed heck week.

“People that aren’t in band really don’t know what a great program we have here at City, because compared to other schools, we work a lot harder and we really do look very good performing out there on the field. Sure, in the mornings they might walk past the big window in the side staircase, and get a glimpse, but that’s all it is. A glimpse of many hours of hard work.” commented Conductor Dr. McReynolds

The invitational will be critiqued by a minimum of seven judges, in two large categories. The first group is called Music Repertoire Effectiveness which includes Creativity in the style of the performance, Coordination and Staging of the drill, Range of Moods or tempos, Overall Unity and Variety within the movements. The second of the two groups is called Music Performance Effectiveness which puts the focus more towards the style of the band and the show in a physical view. This group contains judgment on How the music communicates with the audience, The Emotion and spirit put into making the show entertaining, Professionalism of the band, Artistry/ Mastery and the Audio/ Visual Blend.

The visual ensemble is graded separately, but similarly. The visual ensemble is a group of individuals either color guard (flags) or a dance team with a choreographed routine to the arrangements that the band plays.

“This is the closest I’ve ever been with a group of girls, it’s like a sports or dance team. We watch out for each other and most of us are friends outside of the team whether it’s from sports or from other clubs in school. From my viewpoint, I feel like we’re more or less like sisters.” said junior class color guard performer, Stephanie Ward.

The ensemble and coaches are putting in extra effort to make everything fit together.

“I feel like we’ll be prepared, but we still have so much to do. Whether it’s from the visual aspect, or from people not knowing their spots or even, I shudder to think of it… But un-memorized music” said Conductor Dr. McReynolds.