A Superior Weekend!

Saturday, we traveled to Casper, WY for the 2013 State Marching Band Festival. Megan has been working very hard with the rest of her school's marching band for the last few months on their show for this year. It's a very complicated program, but they went into the competition on Saturday evening confident that they were going to be successful.

Our band is sharp! Always the first band on their feet at attention when another band was taking or leaving the field, they showed utmost respect.

At attention as another band takes the field for their performance.

Our band was the 5th out of 17 bands to perform. Their show consisted of three movements from "The Planets";   "Mars," "Venus" and "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst. This music was written in 1912, but didn't feel old fashioned at all. A very lively show, the band is moving all the time. Many of the other bands would do some moving around, then stop and stand for awhile, then move again. Our band was in constant motion, which makes for a more entertaining show, but also makes it difficult to get non-blurry photos! I did my best, but dearly wish some of the pictures would have been more clear.

They had so much going on that I really can't believe nobody crashed into anyone else. They were amazing! At this point in the show, there wasn't a lot for the percussionists to do, so they performed a flagline instead of a drumline for a bit.

Megan looks like she's holding still, but she was actually marching forward here.

Finishing up one of the movements.

At attention between movements.

Megan and cousin, Steven.

After they performed, they were excited and knew they'd done a great job. Anxious to find out how they scored, they had a long four hours to wait until the awards ceremony.

After all the high school bands performed, the University of Wyoming Western Thunder took the field and performed. They were crazy awesome, and so inspiring to the high school band kids! The first time Megan saw UW perform was her first year in marching band as a freshman. She knew right away that she wanted to be a member of UW's marching band when she goes to college. Now a junior in high school, Megan is more passionate than ever about this dream.

This marching festival is sort of a family event. Cousin, Steffy, is a member of Western Thunder, and is the middle clarinet in this photo. Cousin, Steven, is Steffy's younger brother, and is a member of the high school band. It's a fun reunion when Megan, Steffy and Steven are all together for the marching festival.

Finally, after over 5 hours of marching performances, it was time for the awards ceremony. All 17 of the high school bands came down to the field and stood at attention, waiting to hear how they scored. They don't compete against each other, so there is no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. ranking. Their scores are based on performance of music and their marching. They are rated as Good, Excellent, and Superior. Every band is striving for that coveted Superior rating. It's been several years since our band has gotten that rating. For the last few years, they've gotten the Excellent rating, and this year they were determined to bring home Superior for the first time since 2009.

Waiting for the scores to be announced.

Congratulations to Megan and her entire band; they got their Superior rating! There are also some awards, called captions, for different sections and aspects of the marching program. Our band was also awarded the brass caption. Megan was especially excited about this, being a member of the brass section!

In all, there were 7 bands given the Superior rating. It was a great  night and so much fun! I loved seeing all of the bands perform. They all had a great time, and it's quite entertaining to be in a building with hundreds of enthusiastic teenagers.

Megan is already talking about, and looking forward to, next year's marching season!