The hot sun overhead, the hot pavement underneath, the people to the left and right of you, the sweat dripping down your face, the instrument in your hands, the sound emanating from your instrument, the amazing feeling from doing well, the humbling feeling you get when you do really bad, the burning desire to do better, that's what marching band is.
Marching band isn't all fun and games. Its blood, sweat, tears, and a whole pant load of hard work. There are fundamentals to learn, drills to set, music to memorize, dots to get to, and technique to perfect. The band nerds mainly focus on telling stories of fun and games, but there's so much more to it. You don't know how much effort is put into the performance unless you've actually been in marching band. When I was younger, I looked forward to marching band so much. All my older friends did band, and they always came back with stories of fun and silliness. But I never appreciated how much hard work went in to it. They never said. But now I do.
You can't have a good time in band without hard work. Well, I guess you could, but they wouldn't be as rewarding, the good times are there so you can relieve stress. Pep band at football games is one of those times. You can mess around and scream as much as you want to, as long as it's not when you're playing.
The half-time show is one of those times you need to be serious and not mess around. You need to act as professional as possible. That's the time you need to get your dot. That's the time you need to know what you're doing. That's when you need to apply the technique. That's the time you need to follow the drum major.
Band is the best part of the year. It's when you consider the band your second family. Especially your section leader and your band director there like parents you can talk to them about anything.
The band family, they know you by name, they see you happy, angry and sometimes in tears. They are with you everyday to reach a certain goal, which is perform a show that the audience will never forget, they love me for who I am, even though I'm strange, they are not perfect, none of us are. But, we like to have fun.
Marching band is about giving the band director nicknames and calling them that and they don't care, torturing the band director, counting the days left till band camp, being in step with everyone even though it's not marching practice, hanging out with a second family, going on band trips, naming your instrument, fully understanding the saying "what happens on the bus, stays on the bus", getting dizzy from all the hairspray fumes, long bus rides to the middle of nowhere.