A/N: Welcome to the self-indulgent portion of the program. I've always envisioned some of my kids as marching band kids and it's taken me until now to finally get around to writing it! Band, and marching band, was such an important part of my high school journey and I wanted to put my kids into something that I loved dearly.
Any reader out there who was in marching band will understand the insanity of band camp and I hope you will see dashes of your own bands in here, or at least understand some of the inside jokes I tried to dash in.
Anyway, let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Monday
Bright sunshine hits him directly in the face as he holds open the heavy door at the end of the hallway. Liam waits for the cluster of teens to end, listening for the trio of sneezes Hannah always had when they went out in the sun, before letting the door close behind him and joining the group walking out to their practice field.
He always felt kind of proud of the fact that their school poured funding typically meant for athletics into their performing arts program, meaning their facilities and materials were always state of the art. Which was okay because their football team sucked, and basketball wasn't much better. All their school really had was theater, soccer, and band; and Liam was a proud member of two of those three.
There's a din of conversation and excitement that always came with the first day of band camp, and Liam let himself get sucked into it as he dropped his water bottle along the chain-link fence surrounding the field.
"Man, it may only be nine in the morning, but it's already way too hot to be out here," Mason complains to him,
"Dude, I know! They had to pick the hottest week for band camp, huh?" Liam agrees. Despite the early hour, the heat and humidity of a New York summer were already getting to be too much for the teen. "What I wouldn't give to be my sister right now." Finn and the rest of the front ensemble got to spend their days at band camp in the cool comfort of the air-conditioned auditorium. They never knew what it was like to practice long days out in the hot summer sun.
"Yeah right. You wouldn't last an hour with the pit. They'd annoy you so fast," Mason jokes.
"Yeah, you're right," Liam laughs back.
"Alright! Line up in your attendance block and start stretching out! You have six minutes!" Their director, Mrs. Matzke, calls to them over the loudspeaker and Liam sees their two drum majors herding everyone into the straight lines of their attendance block.
He falls in line with the other sax players, right behind the clarinets as always, and sits down on the astroturf to start stretching. Of course, everyone is still talking even though they're not supposed to and the flutes are maintaining their reputation for being the loudest section.
"Okay, stand up! Talking ends now!" Andrew, one of their drum majors commands them a few minutes later. They fall silent, waiting for the next direction. Monday of camp was always about reviewing the marching fundamentals they'd covered and the music they'd been given to start memorizing at mini-camp back in June and starting to learn drill for their new show. "Band: parade rest!"
They stood silent, feet shoulder-width apart, hands crossed behind their backs waiting for the next command. The smell of sunscreen hung in the air as the energy around them began to build. They were ready to begin.
"Band: ten hut!"
"Pride!"
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Tuesday
"Hey trumpets: this time do it without sucking," Matzke calls out to the section from her perch on the sideline.
Liam tries and fails to cover the laugh he lets out. He's a junior and should be setting a good example for the underclassmen, but when the sass was not directed toward him or his section, Liam found it so funny.
"Okay, set! Going again. Move eight and stop. What are you doing?"
"Move eight and stop!" Liam echoes the direction.
"Five, six, seven, eight!" Andrew counts them off as he pounds out the beat on a wood block.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, HIT, CLOSE," Liam shouts out the counts as they make the move.
"Good. Thank you, trumpets. Moving on!"
Liam pulls out his drill book to look for where he's supposed to go next. He finds his dot and groans; realizing he needs to move sixteen yards in ten short counts. He'd have to jazz run to make it, and he was not looking forward to that.
"Point to where you're going," Matzke directs. The band points in different directions, and Liam clocks the freshmen next to him with wide eyes filled with terror.
"Don't worry: you'll get it soon." he tries to offer her a smile before they're directed to make the move. Even at the slow tempo they were going, Liam misses his dot by several feet, and he jumps into place when they are directed to fix their spots. "See? I missed it," he tells the freshman. "It's gonna be good."
They go back to try it again at the same slow tempo and Liam stops exactly where he's supposed to be. They practice the move faster and faster and then add it to the drill they had already learned.
Liam knew they were still learning the show and hadn't even added in the creative stuff they usually did, but he was sure this show was going to be even better than their 'Snow Queen' show the year before.
"Alright: get a quick drink and reset back to one," Andrew calls out.
Immediately, the group of one hundred and eighty teens rush for their water bottles and take the break as an opportunity to talk.
"Alright: fall in!" their other drum major, Kaylee, calls to them. There's a lot of sighing and groaning as they run back to their spots; the heat was unforgiving. "Set!"
"Clarinets and saxophones: go get your uniforms!" Matzke calls out right as the drum majors were about to count their band off.
Liam cheers happily; a little break in the ac was always good.
He can hear the pit practicing their stuff in the auditorium as he walks down the performing arts hall (the click of their metronome singing loud and proud) and then lets out a whistle at the state of the band room. The floor is covered in uniform pieces of every size and length, and the group of band moms in there organize them like a well-planned military operation.
"Liam, you need to stop growing!" Mrs. Stoltzfus jokingly scolds him. He'd been in band with her twin sons, Brent and Drew, since middle school and was friendly with their family.
"But then who would get things off a high shelf for you?" Liam concedes.
"Okay, you got me there," she agrees. "Here: try this one on." she hands Liam a black uniform bib and he quickly slips it on over the athletic shorts and sneakers he wore. Mrs. Stoltzfus looks him up and down and, satisfied the pants would work, she hands Liam a green and white jacket with gold details.
"Oh, cool! New jackets!" Liam cheers as he puts it on, turning so the mom could help him zip and button it up.
"I know! We're gonna look so good!" she replies happily. She studies Liam's full uniform and risks. "I think I'm gonna move you to the next size up in the jacket. This one is just slightly too small, and I know if I don't size you up, you're gonna outgrow it before the end of the season." she undoes the buttons and zipper and is ready with a hanger once Liam takes it off. "Okay, you're done." she smiles at him.
"No hat?" he asks, noticing the missing piece.
"Not this year. Mr. Q convinced Matzke to forgo them."
"Thank you, Mr. Q!" Liam says appreciatively for their amazing percussion instructor. After one final thank you to the moms, Liam heads back outside to continue learning their show.
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Wednesday
At their morning huddle, after announcements, the band was presented with their show t-shirts for that year - black with the red outline of a heart rate monitor and large, red block letters reading 'Lifeline' cover the front and the back, in the same lettering, reads 'Grizzly Pride Marching Band 2033' - and then were sent off to practice their music in sections. The section leaders call out where to meet as they claim spots around the school while the rest of them went to collect their instruments, music, and stands.
Liam sucks on a new reed, the bitter taste making him wince, as he carries his music and a stand to their usual meeting place. He finds a place in the circle they make and quickly attaches the reed to his mouthpiece.
Their section leader, Adalaide, always came with a plan for every rehearsal, and today was no different. She warms them up first with scales then with a few selections from the warm-up book their entire band uses.
"Okay, let's run the music full out and then we can go over parts. Sound good?" she asks. When the other eleven members of their section nod in agreement, she counts them off and the music starts. Ten minutes later, the last note ends and everyone is breathless and smiling. "That was so good! We sounded so good!" Her encouragement relieves the obvious tension the four incoming freshmen had and Liam nods in agreement.
"Wait, can you show me the sixteenth note runs starting on measure thirty-four of the second movement? Something's not clicking for me?" Liam asks, turning to Adalaide.
"Oh, yeah sure. They tripped me up too, so don't worry," she smiles at him and then demonstrates the section.
Liam was man enough to admit Adalaide was a better player than her; that was why she was first chair and he was fourth. They may be in the same grade, but she was better and he was cool with it. She hit every note with a precision and musicality he could never produce.
"Here, try it slow, and we'll see where you're going wrong," she suggests after finishing playing. So, Liam takes a breath and plays the runs at a snail's pace. "Other than that being an f-sharp," she points out, "you've got it! Now, it's all about speed."
So while the others work on their own tricky sections, Liam and Adalaide work together to get him playing the runs at the right speed, and by the time sectionals end, they are nearly there.
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The rest of the morning is spent in the large common area of the school playing community-building games and ends with a cut-throat game of Giants, Wizards, and Elves.
After lunch, the band returns outside to add music to the drill they learned. It's a slow process full of many repetitions, but they all work hard to burn the music and movement into their muscle memory.
At the end of the day, they gather again with their instruments in the auditorium for a full band rehearsal. It is also their first time hearing the front ensemble's contribution to their show. The wind and brass players listen to the percussion play first and Liam is blown away by what Mr. Q has done; what his section leader of a sister has done! The complexity of their parts and the energy they bring just playing alone only added to his knowledge that their show was something special.
When they all play through the show together, Liam gets goosebumps right from the beginning that don't go away until after the final cut-off from Kaylee.
"That was so cool!" the clarinet section leader, Jordan, cheers jumping up and down. Everyone agrees and cheers along with her.
They end rehearsal early so they can change and head over to the annual band camp pool party and barbecue. One of the band moms rents out a neighborhood pool for them and they spend the evening playing and eating burgers and hot dogs; it's a great community builder and stress reliever right in the middle of the week.
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Thursday
"How are your feet?"
"Together!"
"Stomach?"
"In!"
"Chest?"
"Out!"
"Shoulders?"
"Back!"
"Arms?"
"Locked!"
"Head?"
"Up!"
"Eyes?"
"With pride!"
"Eyes!"
"With pride!
"EYES!
"WITH PRIDE!"
The band shouted out the chant as they stood at attention. It was their last task before a water break and they were more than ready.
"Alright, go get water and set the top of the show. You have four minutes."
Liam runs to his water, guzzling down as much as he can. They'd already run through so many drills in their attendance block that it felt as though an entire day had passed when it had only been two hours. And, to make matters worse, the sunburn he'd gotten on his shoulders Monday was starting to itch and annoy him.
"You're going to be okay!" he hears Jordan quietly encourage one of the freshman clarinet girls. "Look how much you've already done! You got this." It makes him think back to his own first year marching and just how unprepared he was.
"Alright! Fall in!" At Andrew's barking command, the band runs back onto the field and stands at their opening spot for the show.
"Alright, gang, here's the deal," Mrs. Matzke says to them, her voice echoing from the microphone she wore on her cheek. "Today is going to be long and hard, I'm not going to lie. "But, I think we can finish learning the show today. " There are excited gasps and whoops scattered around them.
"But, I'm going to need your help. We need to push through and just gun it today, okay? Do you think we can do that?"
"YES!" the band shouts, eager to get their show done.
"Okay. Let's run what we have and then we'll move on."
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Lian squats down, head falling to his knees. The summer sun beats down on them; the light breeze barely providing relief from the heat. His sweaty shirt sticks to his body, and his shaggy hair is dripping with even more sweat.
"You good?" Mason asks as he looks down at his friend.
"Yeah, I'm good," Liam grunts, standing again, taking off his hat, and pushing his hair back out of his eyes. Movement and new dots and body positions swim in his brain as a jumble of information that somehow, eventually, is supposed to come together.
He pulls out his drill book and studies the next few sets. Smiling to himself, he marks them in his mind, knowing exactly what to do once he got there. It was another simple eight-count move that ended with one of his favorite moves they somehow put into every show. 'The Spinning Vortex of Evil' as he jokingly called it.
When Kaylee has them execute it, the veterans do it perfectly, leaving the newbies confused and shocked. She has Liam and a few others demonstrate, giving commentary on the sharpness of their feet and how quickly they shift their bodies from forward to backward marching.
"Make sure that last step is your transition," Liam tells Adalaide as he coaches her through the move she could never master. "Four. One," he shows her. "Yes! Exactly like that!" he cheers when she finally gets it right. He echos her wide smile and waits for her to slap the hand he holds up before returning to his own group to check on them.
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"Stab, lift, tap!" Liam calls out with the band. The transition is faster than they all anticipated, and they'd had to run it a few more times than usual.
They were so close to the end of the show, only about ten more sets to learn, and they were all getting tired and grumpy. Even Hillary, the rising senior known for her energetic personality, had swapped her wide smile for a tired pout.
"Alright, let's run this one more time!" Andrew shouts.
They all groan. 'One more time' never meant one more time.
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Friday
The last day of camp. They had learned the show. It was up and going. Was it perfect? No. But it was there. Music, movement, even a bit of creative dance (though there was more to come); they knew it all.
After announcements and fundamentals, they run the show. Again and again, first without instruments then with; Each time they fix one thing, change another; go over specific sets.
"Line, split, split the split. . ." Matzke directs, fixing the spacing of a line.
They are tired and breathless by the time they get a water break, and it ends all too quickly. As they return back to their spots, Liam catches the percussion section wheeling their instruments out. Finn is among them, one hand on one of her crutches for support, the other pulling a marimba behind her.
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"Ow! Fuck!" Liam shouts as he is smacked in the side of his head with a flag pole.
"Sorry!" Sammi says to him, looking over her shoulder quickly as the show goes on.
"Liam, are you okay?" Kaylee calls out to him when they stop.
"Yeah, I'm good!" He answers, rubbing at a spot where he knows a knot is already forming. "Wasn't paying attention," he shrugs sheepishly.
"Keep your head up," Kaylee replies with a smile, rolling her eyes at him, brushing off the silly mistake.
They run the show a few more times, and with the front ensemble there, Liam starts to connect their music with his movements; creating mnemonics for certain moves.
Andrew and Kaylee pull them in for a quick notes session before lunch, and when they are released, Adalaide hurries up to him and hands over a plastic bag full of ice; leaving just as fast as she'd come. Liam presses it to his head, taking no notice of his section leader looking over her shoulder to check on him.
"I think she likes you," Finn says, approaching her brother as he puts away his instrument.
"Who?"
"Adaliade! She likes you."
"She does not!" Liam refuses, standing. Lunch bags in hand, the siblings follow the flow of kids into the common area.
"She so does! Did you see the way she was looking at you?"
"She was checking on me! Nothing else."
"Sure, sure," Finn smirks.
"Besides, I thought she was dating Kyle?"
"Nope, they broke up after she caught him hooking up with Girl Jordan," Finn replies, mentioning a girl in their grade.
"Oh," Liam pauses to bite into his sandwich. "So what if she likes me? Is it such a big deal?"
"I mean, it will be if you do something stupid!"
"I'm not going to do anything stupid! People in band get together all the time. It's no big deal."
"Mmhmm." Finn's murmur earns her an eye roll, and the conversation ends.
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There's a different feeling getting to march in a stadium versus their practice field. The echos and acoustics are different and sometimes the fields are different; there are still schools out there that use real grass on their fields, which creates its own set of problems and challenges.
Thankfully, their school district lets them use the football stadium for practices, but that first one is always rough.
"Ugh, I always forget the echo," Rebecca complained to him as they stood on the field waiting to go again.
"I know!" Liam agrees. "I keep thinking I'm off." The two sax players laugh with each other at their struggles.
They wait for a count-off that never comes as their director and drum majors continue their hushed conversation.
"Alright! We're done! Go get changed and there's pizza. Be back here at 4:30. What time?" Kaylee finally tells them.
"Four thirty!"
"Okay, fall out."
There are cheers and heavy sighs as they all head back toward their things. Liam is putting his sax away once again when a voice speaks up from behind him.
"Hey. So a bunch of us are going to eat under the trees if you want to come with." He turns and is met with Adaliade's green eyes and shy smile.
"Oh. Um-" he pauses to stand "- I think Keetin and Tubbs wanted me to sit with them! But you can totally join us!"
"No, that's okay. Thanks though," she says.
"Okay. But the offer still stands!"
Liam turns and walks away to join the line for pizza. He doesn't see the way Adaliade deflates, or hear the sad sigh she lets out.
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As the sun began to set behind the brick structure, the stands of the stadium start to fill with band families and members of their alumni association. All in attendance were excited for the showcase performance that always ended camp.
Every member of the band was lined up on the field in their attendance block, talking and laughing until their drum majors called them to attention.
"Okay! Welcome families!" Mrs. Matzke's voice boomed over the PA system. "Welcome to our 2033 season kick-off showcase!" Cheers echoed around the stadium. "We have worked so hard this week to get our show off its feet. And, we know it's not perfect yet, be we're confident that before our first competition in a few weeks, it will be. You all should be so proud of your kiddos! I know I am!"
More cheers and commotion from the stands as the alumni who wanted to were allowed onto the field to fall into their own makeshift block.
"Now, we always start off showcase night with a little game we like to call a Drill Down." Matzke's mischievous voice spurred cheers and whoops from the band members. "Now, how this works is our drum majors, Andrew and Kaylee, will be calling out different fundamental moves to our band. If they execute them wrong or are off-beat, they are out of the game. Last person standing wins!"
She waits for everyone to get set again and then hands the game over to Andrew and Kaylee.
One by one commands are called out; left face, right face, forward march, backward march, slide right. One by one, band members fall out, Liam included. When the block gets small enough, they reset and start again. Eventually, there are only three people left: a trumpet player, a tuba player, and a lone clarinet player. The same tiny, scared clarinet freshman Liam had seen Jordan giving pep talks to all week.
"Mark time four, forward eight, left eight, back eight, and stop," Kaylee calls out, clapping out the beat and counting the final three off. The three make the moves; the tuba player is out when he moves right instead of left, and the trumpet player doesn't stop when he's supposed to. But the little clarinet girl not only shouts out the counts but stops perfectly in time.
When she's declared the winner, her entire section, and friends from other sections, run to her for hugs and cheers. Liam can see her wide smile from across the field.
They play the game once more before the alumni are dismissed, and the rest of the band is sent to the endzone to get ready for their performance.
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From up in the press box, an unseen male announcer comes over the microphone. "Joining us from Eastchester New York, it's the Terrence Winter high school 'Grizzly Pride' marching band!" Cheers erupt from the stands as the band begins to take the field and set their opening pose. "The band is under the direction of Genice Matzke. Their show is entitled 'Lifeline' and includes selections from composers Martin Davich, Key Poulan, and Phil Minnis. Durm majors: Andrew DelGato and Kaylee Compton, is your band ready?" When Andrew and Kaylee turn to the audience to perform their salute, the crowd cheers and claps for them and then gets louder when they turn back to their band. "You may now take the field in showcase performance."
From his spot on the field, Liam, sax up and ready, hears the first cheers of the season and feels a chill run down his spine; the energy did something mystical to him. He looks up at the podium where Kaylee stands, watching her hands tap out the beat, hearing the drumline 'dut' out the count-off.
At the big first downbeat, Liam breathes and steps off.
Their show had begun.
