It's Friday night as I write this and at high school stadiums all around the country, the lights are coming on. Concession stands are churning out pretzels, Cokes, and overpriced hot dogs as the scent of freshly popped popcorn drowned in butter wafts through the air. Vendors circulate in and among the throngs of people, peddling all manner of kitsch from ball caps and giant foam fingers to mascot emblazoned beer coozies and stadium cushions. Cheerleaders work the crowd, bringing the excitement level to a fever pitch.
The two opposing sides face off against each other across the field, fierce determination on their faces and their school pride and colors mirrored in their as yet unblemished uniforms. A battle will take place tonight. Victory will go to the side with greater determination, a greater desire to give every last measure and leave everything on the field. Victory will go to the side that rocks the house with the best set list. If you're a football fan, there'll also be a game on.
I'm not much of a football fan, a fact to which my long suffering co-owners in my fantasy football league can attest. My version of Friday Night Lights was a battle of the bands waged in the stands and on the field. A challenge to the opposing band's school pride was always in the offing, "We've got spirit, yes we do! We've got spirit, how 'bout you?" Sometimes we'd initiate the wave, testing the other side's unit cohesion and their ability to coordinate at close quarters encumbered with instruments. Most of the skirmishing, however, was done on the field during the halftime show.
Our high school band had a reputation of excellence at competition, and each foray onto the field was a serious affair. Our halftime shows were dress rehearsals for these events. During my tenure, our band directors were a husband-wife team, who, if I'm not mistaken, custom scored all the arrangements for our band. Our competition show always had a theme and we played some pretty cerebral stuff. Performances were usually from Broadway musicals and included music from Cats and even Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I still wonder how that got past the school board.
By the end of the evening, self assured in our victory, we bid our opponents farewell. Usually in the form of good natured taunts and ribbing, it was pretty tame, unless we were dealing with competition rivals. It would then escalate to chants of "See you in Picayune!" and singing the refrain from "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." Not exactly a rumble in the jungle, but what do you expect from band geeks?
No comments:
Post a Comment