Band festival not stopped by rain
Sam Bohne/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 9/28/09 Section: News
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Twenty-seven high school marching bands from around central Illinois competed and were judged in seven major categories - musical performance, visual performance, music effect, visual effect, percussion, auxiliaries and drum majors.
Each band came prepared to perform a themed show with costumes, props and music. Themes varied from Beethoven to the Beatles and from the planets to the Wild West.
Blue Ridge High School marching band, or the Marching Knights, opened the festival with their "Hair Nation" set.
The hair metal theme was evident as soon as the color guards were in sight. The guard members walked onto the field with teased hair, headbands, brightly colored leggings and Chuck Taylor shoes.
Blue Ridge High School was the first band to compete in the A division, which also included Sullivan, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Oblong, Atwood-Hammond, Shelbyville, Heritage and Le Roy high schools.
Each high school band was divided into categories for judging depending on their size; A being the smallest and AAAA being the largest.
Another band in the A division was the Atwood-Hammond High School Marching Rajahs, which performed a Disney-themed set.
"We went to Disney this summer and marched in the parade, so we decided to continue with the Disney theme this season," said Rajahs band director Shana Gatewood.
The 46-member band performed selections from "Beauty and the Beast," "Mary Poppins," and "The Little Mermaid" they have been rehearsing since summer.
"We started band camp the last week of July," Gatewood said. "We've been practicing since then."
Atwood-Hammond's hard work paid off later that day when they were awarded first place in their division.
Libby Brauer, a junior music education major, led the Atwood-Hammond marching band off the field following their performance.
"These bands pick one show, and this is the show they work on all year," said Brauer, a drum major of Eastern's marching band.
Throughout the festival, Panther Marching Band members helped organize the high school bands.
The next division to perform was the AA division including Casey-Westfield, Charleston, Mattoon, Waukegan, Salem, Carlyle, Paris and Carterville high schools.
After a brief thunderstorm, the festival resumed an hour later.
As the sun set, the temperature dropped and the sky grew dark, the last portion of the competition commenced under the bright lights of the stadium
Marion, Robinson, Granite City, Triad and Newton high schools performed during the AAA division of the festival.
Champaign Central, Danville, Belleville West, University and Effingham high schools were the last to perform in the AAAA division of the competition.
Effingham High School's Marching Hearts were the last high school band to take the field, performing their Chaos Theory show.
Before the final award ceremony, the Panther Marching Band performed the "Eastern State March," along with their Latin show.
When the field cleared, the drum majors from each band filed onto the field for awards for the AAA and AAAA divisions.
Fans cheered as Granite City High School was awarded first place in the AAA division.
In the AAAA division, Effingham High School dominated all categories, taking home awards in all six categories and placing first in their division.
Linda Gay Tooley-Guccione, of Charleston, has been coming to watch Eastern's marching band festival for the past five years. She viewed this year's competition from a field side bench.
"I love marching band," Tooley-Guccione said. "It just enriches the students so much, in so many ways."
Sam Bohne can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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