By Nevada Leslie

co-editor-in-chief

The marching band’s competitive season officially got underway on October 1 as the 187 participants packed up almost the entire band room and hopped on a bus on that took them to the Bands of America (BOA) Regional Competition that was held at the University of Toledo (OH). The judges sure thought that WLCMB was “Inextinguishable”, as their show name suggests, because they awarded band with first place in the AAA division, fifth place overall, and honors for  Best Music and Best Effects.  

This win is a big deal. “Fifth overall is pretty good,” said senior Anthony Adler, “but winning the division is better because we beat bands not only from Michigan”. Having beat schools from Ohio, and Indiana, proves that our marching band is one of the best in the Midwest.

Sophomore Zack Leslie described the show as an “expression of the everlasting want to live and never give up even in the worst moments is sure to set the competition on fire. Adler explained the choreography and music; “the color guard is representing smoke this year, and their props revolve around smoke and flames.” The band marching was even described as intense, “one moment we are playing slowly, then in a matter of a second we are playing loud and fast,” said Leslie.

This win didn’t come easily. Leading up to the show, marching band has been practicing four days a week for three hours as a full ensemble. Factor in sectionals, lessons, competitions, and football games and you get a sense of the time invested in the show. Adler said that every practice is different. “Some days we work on just the music and other days we focus just on the visuals”. However, even with the different style of every practice they always end with a run through of the entire show.

The marching band is looking ahead to the Michigan Competitive Bands Association (MCBA) competitions at Troy Athens, Clarkston, and Lakeland. The biggest competition of the season, the State Championships, will be held next month at Ford Field. Following that competition, the band will travel to Indiana to compete at Grand Nationals.