By Will Huston
It is late into Saturday evening at the Ron Weigleb Stadium. Friends and family of 14 different high school bands congregate in the stands, some having been there the since Five in the afternoon or earlier. The FC band had been waiting for about five hours before they finally got their chance to perform. Their three act performance lasted under 10 minutes, and after the applause died down, the awards were handed out to the various high schools.
This year’s invitational brought some worry, as numerous band students related how nervous they were.
“We only just learned the last part of our show this week,” said junior Zach Henderson, who plays the snare drum.
Though, after the show had finished, many students felt good about how they performed.
“It was a lot better than other years,” said sophomore Trevor Sims, who plays the alto saxophone.
Fourteen high school bands came to the stadium Saturday evening, each of them with their own theme and style. FC band’s theme being current, as displayed in their three movements: Wind, Shenandoah (water), and electric.
The band that was discussed most by FC band students was Columbus North, whose theme this year was John F. Kennedy.
“You can tell [that] they enjoy band,” said Henderson.
Columbus also got the most awards, receiving a total of eight awards.
The audience also had an important role to play at the competition.
“Once they started clapping after the first and second movement, it got people hyped,” said Sims.
With only two months into the school year, the Band still has a lot of flaws to work out. Sophomore Dylan Eversman, who plays the trombone, recognizes this, saying that the band still needs to work on “tone, technique, and toes.”
Director Harold Yankey shared his opinion on what the band needs to improve on.
“We just have to get cleaner.”
Even after this competition, the band students still have to worry about their next competition, Bands of America is this coming Saturday In the meantime, the band is going to, as senior Garrett Jones said, “work out the problems in the new part of our show.”