Monday, October 31, 2011

Marching to a different Beat

Sticker I got during EMU Band Day 1970
It was a nice crisp fall day when our band bus pulled into the parking lot at EMU Stadium. We were to join the field during Halftime with 25 to 30 other Marching Bands. I remember the warm-up drills like it was yesterday. I'm glad I memorized all my songs. The first time my Lyre fell off my trombone taught me a lesson in memorization. Never again will I fake playing my songs or worry about my music falling in the mud, plus its so much easier concentrating on my marching without staring at the music. We played some pretty groovy songs by Santana and Chicago but 1 band had some music in a different key than the rest of us. Man did that sound sour :-] I dont remember who won the game but they certainly played better than my highschool did. Every play was fast, sharp and executed with the utmost precision but I guess they would since these are the best high school guys who get schiolarships and a few will be drafted into the NFL once they graduate. These days some go into the NFL or other pro sports right out of highschool. I wish I had taken a camera. Im not sure I had one then and I doubt those throwaway cameras were even invented yet. Marching Band was very enjoyable. We got to stare at a lot of Cheerleaders since we usually had front row seats. This is Jimio saying "Have a Nice Fall"