There’s nothing like the rush of marching a show you created and then strutting off the field to the compliments of audience members. Having been Show Committee Chair for two years, I really learned to cherish those moments. This year we performed an Evolution of Rock Show, a Les Miserables Show, a Flight Show, and a Stevie Wonder Show. It was my final marching band season and my favorite by far!
About five years ago, the band drill began to change drastically from the days of picture drill. We now write drill that focuses mainly on movement and geometrically interesting formations. Last year, Nick “Inky” Lamson ’14 and I started to push the band a little more with some harder drill and despite the expected objections, all the shows looked great. This past season, Corey Chang ’15 and I chose even harder music and even more difficult drill. However, the band continued to rise to the challenge, and the shows looked even better than last year’s.
Last year when we were writing our first show, the Latin Show, we found drill from when the band had performed Encantada many years ago. One of the sets was the shape of a chili pepper, and the idea of making a shape like this seemed completely foreign to us. We instead chose to go with an interesting geometric shape to start the show, and it turned out really well. Since then, I’ve known that avoiding picture drill is always the right way to go.
I’m extremely grateful to those ShowComm Chairs of the past five years for blazing this trail for me and for future Show Committee Chairs. I’m also very thankful to have been able to hold this position for two years, and even when band members gave me grief, I always found it extremely rewarding to see the band put on a great show that I created.
Hallie Klein ’14
The Big Red Band rocking it at the Hahvahd home game!
Fall 2013 Shows:
Alumni at Homecoming 2013:
Evolution of Rock: Elvis Medley, Hey Jude, Carry on My Wayward Son
Les Miserables: At the End of the Day, I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own/Do You Hear the People Sing?/ One Day More
Flight: Fanfare for the Third Planet, Ascend, Reflections of Form
Stevie Wonder: Signed, Sealed, Delivered; Sir Duke, Superstition