“Ladies and gentlemen, now presenting your 2017 edition of the East Hall Viking Marching Band,” says Craig Cantrell, the stadium’s announcer, as the band marches onto the high school gridiron in Gainesville, Georgia, for their halftime performance.
The Viking Band from Gainesville, Georgia, is performing a show this year entitled “Friday Night Pop-Show!” as reported in The Valhalla, the student newspaper at the high school.
Staff writer Daniela Carrasco interviewed a student in the band, which performs in its first marching band competition tomorrow.
In addition to bringing back any trophies, marching band competitions, with almost a full day of wall-to-wall performances, expose students to a wide variety of different music and styles.
“One thing that I’m excited for is to see and meet people from the other bands, and watch them perform,” the student said.
The East Hall High School marching band held practices twice a week during the summer, the paper noted—and in Georgia, that is saying something.
Although competitions, waiting till the end to find out the results, can wreak havoc with students’ nerves, competitions also bring an opportunity for band members to “socialize with other students like them and enjoy time together. It can be fun cheering on the other bands and seeing all the shows,” Ms Carrasco wrote.
