I am such a nerd, but...
Sep. 14th, 2008 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zelda_dragonLook at what I found!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3777882135880518124&hl=en
It's my marching band. This particular performance was actually my very last performance with Kennesaw Mountain. It's from the BOA Grand Nationals Finals my junior year. The recording is shitty, but the show itself is the very best we put on that whole season.
Seriously, this was one of my favorite shows. It almost killed me (and it did burn me out, which is why I didn't join for my senior year), but it is such an amazing and emotional work. It pretty much is a physical (musical?) embodiment of everything the band program at my high school stood for: love for what we do. See, KMHS's marching band came out of nowhere and rose to the top of the band network less than two years after its creation. We've even beaten Lassiter. (Yes, we really did beat them in music and general effect scores...with this show, actually.)
Anyhow, this show is titled Evolution, since it's about marching band - from band camp all the way to the biggest performance of the year; the last movement is actually a compilation of the biggest hits from our previous four shows. If you've never really experienced something like this, you may not get all the jokes...but it's still amazing. We were the only band to get a full standing ovation before we had even finished; the entire stadium was on its feet for us. We placed second in the nation that year (also placing as the AAA Class Champion and winning Overall General Affect).
Some of you have art. Some of you have dance. I have music. This band program was my life for three years and I gave it everything I had, including my soul.
...If you really did watch this video, I'm sorry it's such a bad quality. The stadium echoes a lot, so you hear a lot of reverberation and stuff. If you want to see a good recording, please ask. I have the professional video and will be happy to share it. =)
Okay, I'm done being a nerd now.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3777882135880518124&hl=en
It's my marching band. This particular performance was actually my very last performance with Kennesaw Mountain. It's from the BOA Grand Nationals Finals my junior year. The recording is shitty, but the show itself is the very best we put on that whole season.
Seriously, this was one of my favorite shows. It almost killed me (and it did burn me out, which is why I didn't join for my senior year), but it is such an amazing and emotional work. It pretty much is a physical (musical?) embodiment of everything the band program at my high school stood for: love for what we do. See, KMHS's marching band came out of nowhere and rose to the top of the band network less than two years after its creation. We've even beaten Lassiter. (Yes, we really did beat them in music and general effect scores...with this show, actually.)
Anyhow, this show is titled Evolution, since it's about marching band - from band camp all the way to the biggest performance of the year; the last movement is actually a compilation of the biggest hits from our previous four shows. If you've never really experienced something like this, you may not get all the jokes...but it's still amazing. We were the only band to get a full standing ovation before we had even finished; the entire stadium was on its feet for us. We placed second in the nation that year (also placing as the AAA Class Champion and winning Overall General Affect).
Some of you have art. Some of you have dance. I have music. This band program was my life for three years and I gave it everything I had, including my soul.
...If you really did watch this video, I'm sorry it's such a bad quality. The stadium echoes a lot, so you hear a lot of reverberation and stuff. If you want to see a good recording, please ask. I have the professional video and will be happy to share it. =)
Okay, I'm done being a nerd now.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-15 02:23 am (UTC)I especially appreciated the moments where the woodwinds got to show off your technical skills! I can definitely tell that you put a lot of work into it, and I bet that rehearsing that opening during band camp was a pain in the ass. I can't believe that anyone could bear to do basic block during a show.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-15 02:42 am (UTC)But yes. Those runs were so hard to get right. It took us months to really be able to play them without flubbing through. Quite the accomplishment. I can still hear the director yelling, "Play louder, clarinets! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" at practices. I can also still play those damn runs, too, they were pounded into my head so hard. See, that's why we beat Lassiter in music that year.
The basics block was the perfect touch to the show despite how repetitive it became since that movement was supposed to be all about band camp and hard work. I know you couldn't tell from this video, but we weren't wearing our shakos then, either. We put them on at the end of the second movement (when we all spread to the very edges of the field; the trumpets had theirs put on by the guard when they were in the heart) to get ready for the "performance" part. Very clever.
God, I loved this show so much.