Searcy (LP) The Searcy High School Marching Lion Band participated in the Showcase of Bands on October 8th. Thirty five bands from around the state gathered in War Memorial Stadium to compete and be judged for ratings, and 14 bands were in the same classification. Searcy was awarded First Divisions in every category: percussion, drum major, color guard, and overall, and they were also given the outstanding color guard in the AAAA class. One of the flag captains, Junior Anna Roussel says, “When I heard the announcer say Searcy High School won the outstanding color guard I was so overcome by joy that I can’t begin to describe it. In that moment, I knew that all of our hard work had paid off. As a captain, there isn’t a better feeling in the world.”
The performance only lasted about twelve minutes, but what went unseen was the 72 total hours– 3 stadium rehearsals, 40 morning rehearsals, and 4 all day rehearsals in the summer. The band starts rehearsing this season’s show lightly this past May, then picked back up with furious rehearsals two weeks before school started. Freshman Garrett Adkins says,”Band is a lot more work than I thought it would be. People tell us we’re not a sport, but I’d like to see them try and carry my sousaphone while marching.”
The band is not only scored on how cool their show is, but there are 5 different rubrics that bands are scored with: Musicality, marching, percussion, guard, and drum major each one having at least 8 different subcategories.
Each individual student has to focus on tone quality, correct fingerings (or in the case of drum majors, percussionists, and guard members, hand techniques and positions), marching correctly and on the right foot, getting to their specific spot and lining up with the rest of the band, horn/flag/drum carriage, and remaining alert and uniform at all times. Every band member has to “zero in and focus hard”, as band director Tony Luzzi says, in order to be successful. The band is very appreciative of their trophies and, as a majority, feel like their hard work definitely paid off.
