Favorite Band Memory?

[SpartanBandAlum]

I’m curious to know, what’s everyone’s favorite memory from your/your child’s time in band?

 

Mine is definitely having our name called to advance to State last year

[LeanderMomma]

Most definitely Leander’s trip to Grand Nats in 2016. Experiencing that Lucas Oil stadium and just the whole GN environment was something I’ll not soon forget!

[J-Mike16]

My favorite memory so far definitely has to be state from last year. It was one of the best times of my life and it was amazing!

[abtwitch]

For me it was BOA Atlanta 2015. We had a terrible prelims run, people were tripping over the hang-glider props left and right and one of them even got ripped. We were so disappointed after that run and most of us thought that was gonna be the last run of our season. Fast-forward to back in the hotel we were staying in, everyone was just recovering and getting ready to accept defeat... when suddenly someone runs out of their room and legitimately screaming "WE MADE FINALS!". Suddenly the mood of the band had 180ed and we got ready for our finals run. That finals run is something I'll never forget. Afterwards, the band directors had to shush us multiple times for being too loud as we were exiting the field. Being there with everyone and celebrating a run that we could all be proud of is by far my favorite memory. 

[SpartanBandAlum]

For me it was BOA Atlanta 2015. We had a terrible prelims run, people were tripping over the hang-glider props left and right and one of them even got ripped. We were so disappointed after that run and most of us thought that was gonna be the last run of our season. Fast-forward to back in the hotel we were staying in, everyone was just recovering and getting ready to accept defeat... when suddenly someone runs out of their room and legitimately screaming "WE MADE FINALS!". Suddenly the mood of the band had 180ed and we got ready for our finals run. That finals run is something I'll never forget. Afterwards, the band directors had to shush us multiple times for being too loud as we were exiting the field. Being there with everyone and celebrating a run that we could all be proud of is by far my favorite memory. 

We actually had a very similar experience at Area last season. Bad tuning in the woodwinds in the opener at Prelims threw everyone off, and it just kind of went downhill from there, including me stepping off in the wrong direction at the beginning of our third movement. We all went home defeated, only to find out when we came back for the Finals announcement that not only had we made Finals, we were currently in a position to advance to State. We managed to turn it around, climb three places, and advance to State for the first time in the program's history

[josephbandfan]

Probably when I found out Keller made 5th at state.

[Danpod]

2002 State Contest. I'll be sharing this story in an upcoming episode

[MadisonBandMan1]

2002 State Contest. I'll be sharing this story in an upcoming episode

ooh cant wait for this campfire story!

[takigan]

Some of the best memories tend to fall under the rule of "What happens on the band trip stays on the band trip!".  "band trip" can easily be swapped with "band bus", "band camp", "band hall" and many other bandnomers.

[Babar56]

I have two Richland favorites. Grand Nationals 2007 my oldest freshman year, placing 9th (LD Bell Grand Champion) first time I had ever attended Grand Nationals. Second was Rose Bowl Parade 2011. Oldest was Senior (Drum Major) youngest was a freshman (In a wheelchair, another story).

[PSHSMom]

I had no idea what BOA really was when my son first started at PESH, which was in 2012 when they made finals.   I did not attend that year as I really didn't understand
how big it was.   They also went to state that year, but I didn't attend that either...  again, didn't realize how difficult it was to make state, LOL.   

 

That being said,  as much as I love the marching band season, seeing  my son with the PESH band at Carnegie Hall was by far the best memory I have.  

[Bandnerd03]

2002 State Contest. I'll be sharing this story in an upcoming episode

 

RIP Floyd Casey Stadium. That was a very fun & wet day. 

[CTJBandPops]

many great memories - Grand Nats finals in 2011 and the 2014 Tournament of Rose Parade where great (and many other memories in between)

 

but I would say the 2014 - my child's senior year - BOA SA Gold followed by UIL Bronze a few days later - great way to end her 4 years in band

[Band_dad_of_2]

My personal favorite story is when I was in high school way too many years ago....we performed a show at UTA (artificial turf) in a year where the crickets were worse than they ever were.  I'm talking plague-like...really really bad.   Every step taken was met with a crunch of crickets....Lord only knows how many brave crickets lost their lives that night.  We had crickets on our uniforms, on our hats, on our instruments (along for the ride).  The worst part was saved for the flags, though...part of their show required that they lay on the field.

 

Those poor girls.  We still talk about that performance....and the one where we performed in a driving rainstorm.  That was AWESOME!!!

 

As for my kids....my oldest was in a drumline contest where it was literally a contest for 2nd.  They were so completely dominant that about 3/4 of the way through their performance, I looked at the dad next to me and basically said "it's over". 

My middle kid....that's easy.  It was advancing to state her senior year.

 

My youngest??????   That story has yet to be written.....

[northtexasbandfan]

I have two.

 

2014, I was in the Flower Mound pit crew and chaperoned during my son's junior year. Coming out of the tunnel and in the corner of the field while Adair County performed their Class A Champion exhibition and Flower Mound was about to lead off the finalists, I was totally overcome with emotion and had to walk away from my fellow pit crew members a couple of times.

 

And of course, BOA San Antonio 2015. An 10+ hour trip from Flower Mound to San Antonio that would normally take 5 hours due to the storms and flooding. A fantastic finals performance, and I was again on the sidelines for that one. As soon as their closer started, the waterworks did, too. During awards, when Reagan was announced in second place, and the full realization hit of what was happening ... shock, joy, tears, hugs, disbelief to go from 13th to 1st in a year. And LeanderMomma - I can tell you that the Flower Mound kids really, really did wish Leander could have competed that day. You never want to see another band (and a title contender that year for sure) not be able to take part in a competition.

[FloMoParent]

My favorite band memory (as a band parent) is the 2014 Grand Nationals.  Both of my kids were in the band (daughter was a senior clarinet and section leader and son was a freshman marching trombone {he played trumpet and was a props team member but they had too many late season holes in the trombone line so he leaned the basics of the 3rd part trombone, his first event to march was prelims of BOA SA}) my wife was a chaperone and I was the supportive dad spectator. This was our first ever experience with Grand Nationals.  We made finals and were over the moon.  This is where my favorite memory comes in, during Finals, I was in the lower bowl, mid-fields about 20 rows back and could easily make out the faces of each performer on the field.  Early on I saw my son's face and he was working, focused, and doing his job, he still has his entire high school career in front of him.  A bit later on, right after the big solo I see my daughter.  Focused, but I could tell she was starting to get emotional, this was her last ever marching event and they left it all on the field.  I was bawling like a baby in the stands. After the last note, I saw the drum major lose it, most of the other seniors got emotional too. I still get teary-eyed thinking about this. 

[northtexasbandfan]

My favorite band memory (as a band parent) is the 2014 Grand Nationals.  Both of my kids were in the band (daughter was a senior clarinet and section leader and son was a freshman marching trombone {he played trumpet and was a props team member but they had too many late season holes in the trombone line so he leaned the basics of the 3rd part trombone, his first event to march was prelims of BOA SA}) my wife was a chaperone and I was the supportive dad spectator. This was our first ever experience with Grand Nationals.  We made finals and were over the moon.  This is where my favorite memory comes in, during Finals, I was in the lower bowl, mid-fields about 20 rows back and could easily make out the faces of each performer on the field.  Early on I saw my son's face and he was working, focused, and doing his job, he still has his entire high school career in front of him.  A bit later on, right after the big solo I see my daughter.  Focused, but I could tell she was starting to get emotional, this was her last ever marching event and they left it all on the field.  I was bawling like a baby in the stands. After the last note, I saw the drum major lose it, most of the other seniors got emotional too. I still get teary-eyed thinking about this.

The 2-1/2 year wait for the 2014 Grand Nats DVD was worth it for me. The last time I didn't cry watching the show (or even the BOA Finalist Feature on YouTube) was ... never.

[AllenBandDad]

From my own time in HS band, the best memories are all football game war stories.  I went to a 4A HS (Crowley) in the 80's, so we never marched on artificial turf except at UIL contest.  One time, we were playing in Stephenville, where it had rained for a few days straight.  By halftime, the middle part of the field was just a puddle of brown mud.  My spot in the Sousaphone section put me largely in the dead center of the field, right in the middle of the mud.  At one point, my feet were marking time, but my shoes stayed perfectly still, stuck in the mud.

 

For my oldest kid, the best memories are him making TMEA All-State three years in a row and making Drum Major his Senior year (yeah, I'm Dad-bragging - shoot me ).

 

For my younger one, it's still on going.  So far, it's been watching her bust her butt to advance from being an alternate in the marching show her Freshman year, to having a spot in the show her Sophmore year, to being part of the Student Leadership Team her Junior year.

[tennelle]

Gonna go WAY back for this one, back to 1980. My band program had been terrible for years, so bad that I don't think they had even competed at UIL marching contest for several years. In 1977, my freshman year, a new director was hired and he immediately began a long reclamation project. That first year, we made a 4 at marching contest and a 3 at concert contest; I remember just wanting to bury my head in my hands and slink away when that announcement was made. The next year, we made a 3 in marching and a 2 in concert. My junior year, we made a 2 in marching and a 1 in concert. Finally, after years of hard work and sweat, we made a 1 at marching contest my senior year! We had come from the absolute dregs to a sweepstakes band in only four years, and the program continued it's excellence for many years after I graduated. To this day I get chills remembering when the announcer said "Marshall: First Division". 

[LeanderMomma]

Some of the best memories tend to fall under the rule of "What happens on the band trip stays on the band trip!". "band trip" can easily be swapped with "band bus", "band camp", "band hall" and many other bandnomers.

Ohhhh, I have many a great band bus trip memory! Those are indeed the best!

[LeanderMomma]

many great memories - Grand Nats finals in 2011 and the 2014 Tournament of Rose Parade where great (and many other memories in between)

 

but I would say the 2014 - my child's senior year - BOA SA Gold followed by UIL Bronze a few days later - great way to end her 4 years in band

Chameleon was a great show!

[LeanderMomma]

I have two.

 

2014, I was in the Flower Mound pit crew and chaperoned during my son's junior year. Coming out of the tunnel and in the corner of the field while Adair County performed their Class A Champion exhibition and Flower Mound was about to lead off the finalists, I was totally overcome with emotion and had to walk away from my fellow pit crew members a couple of times.

 

And of course, BOA San Antonio 2015. An 10+ hour trip from Flower Mound to San Antonio that would normally take 5 hours due to the storms and flooding. A fantastic finals performance, and I was again on the sidelines for that one. As soon as their closer started, the waterworks did, too. During awards, when Reagan was announced in second place, and the full realization hit of what was happening ... shock, joy, tears, hugs, disbelief to go from 13th to 1st in a year. And LeanderMomma - I can tell you that the Flower Mound kids really, really did wish Leander could have competed that day. You never want to see another band (and a title contender that year for sure) not be able to take part in a competition.

That was such a tough year for sure. I still feel sad when I think about it. Those kids worked so hard to get there, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

 

Flower Mound was freaking brilliant that year! That was the first time I really NOTICED FloMo, and man did y’all make a statement!

[SpartanBandAlum]

Some of the best memories tend to fall under the rule of "What happens on the band trip stays on the band trip!". "band trip" can easily be swapped with "band bus", "band camp", "band hall" and many other bandnomers.

Can’t argue with that! I’ve got many of those types of memories myself

[MadisonBandMan1]

That was such a tough year for sure. I still feel sad when I think about it. Those kids worked so hard to get there, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

 

Flower Mound was freaking brilliant that year! That was the first time I really NOTICED FloMo, and man did y’all make a statement!

Hey I know its not completely appropriate to ask here randomly, but can you please check your pm?

[LeanderMomma]

Hey I know its not completely appropriate to ask here randomly, but can you please check your pm?

Got it, thank you!