Band Memories.... Sigh. Here we go! Some of these are funnier than others,
but all of them are genuine.
One time in marching band, our DM (who had a high sense of humor) decided
that three hours in the sun were enough. We arranged a liddle conspiracy.
Our direction yelled "Band Halt" and instead of "Step And Close" we said
"Captain Crunch!"
Of course, sometimes our director forgets (scary) what to say and we
end up getting marched into a wall with him yelling frantically behind
us, "Band! Y'all Stop!" To the beat, of course! We're just SO disciplined
that we only respond to Band Halt... HA!
One time we were at a parade and doing a trumpets-and-clarinets-switch-places thingy (which involves running around in a crazed circle like a decapitated chicken and trying to find your exact spot again in precisely 16 counts) and my section leader and I both dropped our clarinets and we both chipped the bells. Coincidence? Waaah, my poor injured baby!! (Yes, I mean my clarinet!)
And of course, drill-downs. No band camp experiance would be complete
without drill-downs, whoch are kinda like spelling bees - whoever misses
a command has to sit. By the end it usually sounds like this:
Bandlefthaserighthaseabouthaseparaderest10hutbanddresscenterdressbandreadyfront!
Then there was the time at band camp when we had to dance the Men In Black dance as part of our parent demonstration. Ahh...
Now, the thing to remember about my band is, we had 41 members last
season. And so, we can all fit on one little school bus when travelling.
I remember one symphonic season we had recieved our first Supirior in Concert
Band. (We rarely recieve good scores... we're so small....) And our director
stands at the front of the bus, ruffling the papers in his hand,
the orange-tan manilla envelope the only sound. "Well, guys," he intones
gravely, "I thought you did a good job. No, I thought you did an
Excellent job." He shakes his head slowly and draws out the plaque
from the envelope. Me, in the third seat on the bus, I tried to see what
it said, but it was too late. The morose expression on our director's face
could only mean one thing!.... "And so, that said, I'd like to congradulate
you on your first Supirior!!!"
Our screams were heard outside the bus, down the street, and into the
gas station on the other side of town. We were singing, cheering, hugging,
SCREAMING, the bus driver laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes.
Ah.
I think that's it for now. Maybe more later!!!