Shows That Have Deeply Moved You

[Rubisco]

This topic has probably been done before a few times, but the horrific events in Uvalde reminded me of Stoneman Douglas' 2018 winter guard show. Just months after 17 people were murdered at their school, including a color guard freshman, the girls in their world class guard gave a stunning performance at their 1st WGI regional event, and I had tears rolling down my face as I watched it. Massive standing ovation. The show wasn't a particularly sentimental show, either -- kind of a high-art, elegant one, with some existential trappings -- but talk about perseverance. I can't think of any other marching arts performance that has moved me like that.

Other shows that brought some tears to my eyes, as a spectator:

James Bowie 2011. The Promise of Winter. The rose at the end got me. It seemed like a tribute to their late head director, Bruce Dinkins. Big year for Bowie, too. They won their first BOA regional in Dallas over heavyweights like LD Bell. Then they won effect and earned 3rd place at San Antonio.

Hebron 2017. Sculpt. This one was sort of unique in the sense that the sheer quality of the musicianship brought some tears to my eyes. It showed me that music education was alive and well. These were happy tears.

Fantasia 2004. Vanishing Act. The show was a tribute to WGI founder and guard pioneer Stanley Knaub, who died in 2002. This show was, naturally, a bit sentimental, but it was so well-designed and well-performed that it still has the power to bring tears to my eyes. Pretty much every time. It resonates with anyone who has lost a loved one.

I'm sure there are several other shows.

[Tubalord11]

There have been 2 shows in recent years that have really touched my heart! 
 

first off is Avons 2019 show, Unbroqen(May have spelt that wrong)! As a musician myself, I feel like this show really was a great interpretation of all of music. I play tuba and band but also play piano, and so with that, I became even more connected to the show. They performed it so well, and the vocalist in that show just made it 1000 times more powerful! 
 

the other is Vista Ridges lost and found…… this show omg! There isn’t been a single time I have been able to make it threw this show without crying. One, it was a show that won them their first 6A state finals, and I know nobody in 2017 would have thought they’d be state champions, but they were. But the main reason is that this show is something everyone can connect to. We all have moments in our life’s where we feel lost. Maybe we’re going through a tough time, a family member or friend was lost, or something bad is going on. But then we recover, and most of the times, we become stronger because of your struggle. That is what this show means to me, and they performed it at such a high level! That show will probably be my favorite show for many years to come, because it tells the story of the every day human! Thank you vista  for that!!!! :)

 

 

[J-Mike16]

Shows that have moved me, on a video screen:

Castle 2017 - That show which was dedicated to Sophia Rinehart, was such an awesome way to honor her. It was easily one of my favorite shows of that year. 

Palm Desert Charter Middle School Guard 2021 - This show specifically made tears fall down my face because, 1). They are just kids who competed against the best guards in the Nation and deserved 11th place. And 2). The energy those kids gave during that Final's run and seeing their faces throughout that show, knowing that they are among the best of the best.

Hebron 2019 & 2021 - I don't think I need to say much about these 2 shows. Literally 2 of the best shows ever to be put on a field. Hebron is just amazing, and I look forward to their show each and every year. They are also my #1 favorite band!

John B. Alexander 2018 - Holy Crap........ What an awesome show JBA did that year! From the start to the finish, they had me (and most likely everyone else) in tears. Still to this day, it remains as one of the most underscored shows I've ever seen. For sure deserved at least top 25, possibly top 20.

Mechanicsburg Guard 2015 - "Every 40 Seconds" was the show name. I cried every 5 seconds. They excelled in the effect part, as to perform in a show that is about how every 40 seconds, someone gets kidnapped, you have to seriously get your emotions flowing. The fact that they were legit crying while performing meant that this was a heart-felt show that not only touched the audience's hearts, but also the judge's hearts. That ending is just spectacular!

Homestead 2018 - Now, the show itself was very good but it did not move me as much as all of these. The reason why I put this one on here was because of 1 contest they hosted, it started to pour down rain, hard, during their run. The fact that they kept going and looked/sounded like they were on fire and eager to play/march more. I can't tell you how many times I watched that video on loop for hours. By the end of the show, it was pure 100% "We gotta finish this with a bang". and that is where I cry, because at that moment, all of them probably were thinking "We just marched our entire show in heavy rain, we just kicked A**!"

Shows that have moved me, in person:

Lumberton 2017 - My junior year show was something I will remember my entire life. Not only did this show mean more to all of us because of Hurricane Harvey, which destroyed over 50% of the town and we became an island for 3 weeks. But, also the year prior, we had $75,000 stolen from us, by a band parent. This show was the start of a new journey for the Lumberton MIGHTY Raider Band, which the band is still on.

North Shore 2018 - The opening hit. That right there, made me shed a tear when I saw that. Incredible sound and one of the best full ensemble hits ever in my opinion. 2015 - 2019 North Shore was FANTASTIC!

 

[Rubisco]

I forgot an obvious recent one: Broken Arrow 2021! If you had asked me what last season's national championship show would be like prior to the season starting, I would have imagined something pretty darn close to Broken Arrow's show. A triumphant, heartening, sometimes genuinely sad, but ultimately sweetly sentimental return to marching band after the upheaval of our society. The dreamy and evocative visual program was just sort of the cherry on top. I had goosebumps pretty much from start to finish. It's a masterpiece.

I also just remembered that time I watched the BOA finalist feature of Cedar Ridge's first national finals performance in 2013. The part during the Goodnight Moon vocals when the director has tears in his eyes got me a little bit for sure. He was so proud!

[LeanderMomma]

Mine are pretty similar to one’s already mentioned here but I’ll share them anyway.

Every Leander show my daughter was in (2013-2016) because my heart was so full of emotion.  Their 2019 show Radioactive really made me emotional as well. 

The first non-Leander show to make me cry was Castle 2017 for sure. I was in the GN audience in 2016 all three times that  Sophie sang her heart out, and there were Castle parents sitting behind us for semifinals who jumped up and screamed in jubilation when Castle was announced a GN finalist for the first time. That was a special moment for sure.  I remember how my heart physically ached in my chest the next morning as we were driving back to Texas and I read the news on social media of the early morning car accident that took the lives of Sophie, her dad and her Grandmother. So when Castle did their 2017 tribute to Sophie, and her boyfriend was wrapped in the arms of that angel at the end….let me just tell you I downright sobbed. I was watching it on FloMarching with my hubby, and I looked over at him and he was weeping as well. Profound impact on both of us for sure. RIP sweet Sophie. You will never be forgotten. 

Also previously mentioned was JB Alexander’s 2018 show, The Price of Progress. My 19 year old daughter and I were sitting in the Alamodome watching and both of us were deeply moved by that amazingly emotional production. Neither of us could stop the tears at the end when Mother Nature was pretty much snuffed out by all of the construction going on around her. It was a phenomenal show and one that truly made an impact on me. The freshmen in that show just graduated this week and I know they were blessed to have been in such a great show and in such an awesome band program these past four years. 

Vista Ridge 2018 was definitely the biggest highlight for me. It was just an absolutely beautiful show that moved me to tears nearly every time I watched it, but nothing like when they were announced the 6A state marching band champions at UIL and they were smished inside a giant CTJ/Leander sandwich of hugs once the announcer said Break Ranks. What a phenomenal moment!  

I have to also say that LOTS of winterguard shows have moved me to tears. The very activity itself is an emotional one and I love it all so much that it doesn’t take much for me to be wiping away tears after some of those incredible performances.  That’s a whole nother topic y’all. 😁
 

[packwick]

i can't recall a recent time i was moved to the point of tears by a marching show, if that's what u mean. there are many that have given me major goosebumps though. honestly most of the ones that try to make me cry make me slightly annoyed, bc they're too facile and manipulative. hahahaha.

a personal one would be Marian Catholic's 2002 show, Dialogues with a Muse. we were in the tunnel waiting to perform in our first ever national finals and Marian was playing their ballad, the slow section to Harrison's Dream. serenely beautiful and a little anxious. the music was perfect for that moment, kind of like a movie scene. it still takes me back. had i decided to not do something "more" with my life than "just" be a band director, Gregg Bimm would have been my model. brilliant guy who directs the band, writes the drill, arranges the music, etc. crazy! u don't need to spend the big bucks when u can do it all yourself!

[Rubisco]

  On 5/27/2022 at 5:35 PM, packwick said:

a personal one would be Marian Catholic's 2002 show, Dialogues with a Muse. we were in the tunnel waiting to perform in our first ever national finals and Marian was playing their ballad, the slow section to Harrison's Dream. serenely beautiful and a little anxious. the music was perfect for that moment, kind of like a movie scene. it still takes me back. had i decided to not do something "more" with my life than "just" be a band director, Gregg Bimm would have been my model. brilliant guy who directs the band, writes the drill, arranges the music, etc. crazy! u don't need to spend the big bucks when u can do it all yourself!

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One of Marian Catholic's very best shows. Gregg Bimm is THE genius of the marching band world!

A personal one for me would be Westfield's 2003 show. Obviously I had graduated by then, but my feeling watching the show was that the Eagle was finally going to happen. Finally!

[takigan]

LD Bell 2006 - "The Remaining" Not so much "moved" my soul but was just so deeply awestruck by what was being performed it was enough to be moving.  There wasn't anything else like it at the time.

LD Bell 2008 - "The Quest" The soloists! I still hum that closing flute solo to myself all the time, it's such a pretty solo.

Marcus 2009 - "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Namely the English Horn solo.  I've thought for years that's the most beautiful solo to ever be played on a marching field. I only learned in more recent years that the player was essentially a child prodigy who was 1st chair All-State as a SOPHOMORE and has had a pretty illustrious college and professional career performing with several world class orchestras.

LD Bell 2010 - "Honor: We Will Remember" The only show to this day that actually legitimately made me cry.

The Woodlands 2011 - "Uninvited" The Seventh is already gut-wrenching enough as it is.  What moved me about this was the genius that came from interweaving it with Uninvited.  It worked SO WELL to the point of giving me chills!

Reagan 2015 - "EveryOne" The ballad defined that entire year for me.  I remember seeing them in Finals at Conroe under the nighttime stadium lights and it making me reflect on just my own band journey that I had undertaken until that point.  People I'd met, places I'd been and great music that I'd performed.

Hebron 2021 - "Penstriped" Because Holy Sh**!

[J-Mike16]

  On 5/28/2022 at 4:58 AM, takigan said:

LD Bell 2006 - "The Remaining" Not so much "moved" my soul but was just so deeply awestruck by what was being performed it was enough to be moving.  There wasn't anything else like it at the time.

LD Bell 2008 - "The Quest" The soloists! I still hum that closing flute solo to myself all the time, it's such a pretty solo.

Marcus 2009 - "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Namely the English Horn solo.  I've thought for years that's the most beautiful solo to ever be played on a marching field. I only learned in more recent years that the player was essentially a child prodigy who was 1st chair All-State as a SOPHOMORE and has had a pretty illustrious college and professional career performing with several world class orchestras.

LD Bell 2010 - "Honor: We Will Remember" The only show to this day that actually legitimately made me cry.

The Woodlands 2011 - "Uninvited" The Seventh is already gut-wrenching enough as it is.  What moved me about this was the genius that came from interweaving it with Uninvited.  It worked SO WELL to the point of giving me chills!

Reagan 2015 - "EveryOne" The ballad defined that entire year for me.  I remember seeing them in Finals at Conroe under the nighttime stadium lights and it making me reflect on just my own band journey that I had undertaken until that point.  People I'd met, places I'd been and great music that I'd performed.

Hebron 2021 - "Penstriped" Because Holy Sh**!

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OMG! I completely forgot about LD. Bell 2010! That show brought me to tears! Kinda wished they won..... in my heart they did. 

[packwick]

  On 5/28/2022 at 4:58 AM, takigan said:

The Woodlands 2011 - "Uninvited" The Seventh is already gut-wrenching enough as it is.  What moved me about this was the genius that came from interweaving it with Uninvited.  It worked SO WELL to the point of giving me chills!

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i've concluded that layering music is one of Vanderkolff's obsessions. it's in so many of the shows he's involved with, starting w/ TWHS in 2006 and continuing into his work with SCV winter guard and the Bluecoats. hearing Imogen Heap on top of Bartok was weird af at the time. the vast majority of designers simply sequence pieces if they include more than one piece in the same movement.

[Origin]

I’m not a cryer at all, but there have definitely been a few shows that made me tear up. I’m usually moved more by uplifting shows rather than heavy or sad ones. 
 

Hebron 2019 & 2021. I got to see the 2019 show in person at San Antonio finals, but it didn’t fully click for me until I saw the GN prelims performance. I just remember being in awe at the level or performance and feeing so proud of the TX representation. Definitely brought tears to my eyes. The 2021 show didn’t move me in that same way, but I’ve never been more in awe of a show so I have to mention it.
 

Flower Mound 2015 & 2016. I have a lot of nostalgia for shows from these years and Flower Mound introduced me to the pure creativity that was possible on the field. The endings of both shows are perfection to me. In the 2015 show when everything goes quiet and you just hear the choir in the box while the “This is not a Marching Band” banner flies overhead…ughhh!! Then the end of the 2016 show with the woodwind sextet, the horns going crazy, and the sunset imagery, so good. The opening hits of both shows are also crazy good too. 
 

Keller 2016. This show grabbed me from the beginning. Ethereal, uplifting, and just beautiful. The ending was what really got me though. Seeing someone do a backflip in full uniform while holding an instrument was so crazy and unexpected for me to see at the time.

 

Leander 2021. Clearly not a heavy show at all, but something about that SA finals performance really had me holding back tears. They had a somewhat turbulent season so I think I was so proud of how excellent and moving the final product was. 

[Guest]

I'm going to list some lesser known shows that not everyone has probably heard of or saw. 

1: SFA 2021- After this band was slowly growing in numbers for years, they got hit super hard by the pandemic, and had the smallest band they have had since 1996. When I first saw the show, I was unsure what the season would look like, but when I saw them in area finals, I was shocked. I had never seen a more refined product from SFA, and it was nice to see SFA going so strong even with a massive cut in numbers and talent. 

2: Westfield 2019- When I was in high school, Westfield was in a very tough time. They rarely marched more than 60 winds, rarely made finals at any contest, and always had holes littering the field, so when I heard the massive wall of sound from them in Friendswood prelims, my heart got very warm. 

3: Churchill Fulshear 2021- this program opened in 2016 with a great staff from day 1, and it was clear that everything had finally fallen into place. They will be a regional finalist very soon. 

[LeanderMomma]

  On 5/28/2022 at 9:27 AM, Origin said:

Leander 2021. Clearly not a heavy show at all, but something about that SA finals performance really had me holding back tears. They had a somewhat turbulent season so I think I was so proud of how excellent and moving the final product was.

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 I understand exactly what you are saying. 

[Rubisco]

  On 5/28/2022 at 4:58 AM, takigan said:

LD Bell 2006 - "The Remaining" Not so much "moved" my soul but was just so deeply awestruck by what was being performed it was enough to be moving.  There wasn't anything else like it at the time.

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YES. Although I feel like if I included that one, I would probably just start regurgitating my "best ever" list, hence my focus on tears. Ditto for Marcus. That English horn soloist they used for multiple shows was just about perfect.

  On 5/28/2022 at 9:06 AM, packwick said:

i've concluded that layering music is one of Vanderkolff's obsessions. it's in so many of the shows he's involved with, starting w/ TWHS in 2006 and continuing into his work with SCV winter guard and the Bluecoats. hearing Imogen Heap on top of Bartok was weird af at the time. the vast majority of designers simply sequence pieces if they include more than one piece in the same movement.

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Definitely. Have you posted on YouTube? I feel like I read a comment like this somewhere, but it was a little bit more... capitalized? 😂

[takigan]

  On 5/28/2022 at 7:46 PM, Rubisco said:

YES. Although I feel like if I included that one, I would probably just start regurgitating my "best ever" list, hence my focus on tears.

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A lot of these lists crossover each other.  I think LD Bell 2007 is a better show in just about every way and is higher up on my "best ever" list, but 2006 still "moves" me more than 2007.  Or I could say it had a bigger impact on me and moved me more at the time.   I also have "best ever" and "favorite shows" lists with their own overlaps.

[packwick]

  On 5/28/2022 at 7:46 PM, Rubisco said:

Definitely. Have you posted on YouTube? I feel like I read a comment like this somewhere, but it was a little bit more... capitalized? 

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i would never! check ur messages on the Discord BD server, hon.

i thought of another one i thought was pretty haunting: Blessed Sacrament 1996, the year they did music from the film The Piano. Sac does such a good job of designing shows with deep wells of emotion without excessively telegraphing that emotion.

[LeanderMomma]

  On 5/28/2022 at 4:58 AM, takigan said:

LD Bell 2010 - "Honor: We Will Remember" The only show to this day that actually legitimately made me cry.

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Interestingly enough I’ll be featuring that one on my Instagram page tomorrow for Memorial Day. 

[BandFan95]

Too many to name. Of course, I cry for just about anything.  But one October night when I picked up my kid from band practice she said, "We added a new part for Houston." I thought, "are they insane?" but I smiled and said oh it's going to be great.

That Saturday, it felt like 600 degrees outside. Westwood came out and played the "Little Drummer Boy," segued into "Do you hear what I hear?" The majority of us parents had never seen it. We were looking at the video screen and saw "Joy," spelled out, then watched the band get on their knees and lean towards one side and belt out a note that still gets me to this day. One of the moms who was sitting behind me put their hand on my shoulder while it was happening. When it was over, we all yelled and I looked around and saw the same tears I was shedding across the Westwood band parent community. 

At this point, that was almost 4 years ago. It was so great for the kids...and us parents. 
 

[J-Mike16]

I forgot to add Creekview 2004 and Richland 2007. Those 2 have deeply moved me just from the sheer amount of difficult drill design. Heck, Creekview's closer still remains as one of my favorites, and then Richland, oh Richland with that insane part 1 ending. 

[BaritoneBallah]

I am a bit bias but I got goosebumps every single time I watched Rouse 2019 "Midnight City"!!!

[RooBandAlum2004]

Chaparral 2022 "To Build A Home" It didn't make me cry, however it did tug at my heartstrings. Those kids had a challenging year to say the least. Being moved from their original schools to open a new school and literally start over again from scratch. They definitely overcame the odds and built their home, earning their first Division 1 in school history. The way they incorporated their alma mater into their show in between Into The Clouds and A House is Not A Home was beautiful, to the soloist singing their school song as the band rotated the props to read "CHS IS HOME" was simply *chef's kiss* Go Bobcats!!

[Tubalord11]

  On 10/20/2022 at 3:13 AM, RooBandAlum2004 said:

Chaparral 2022 "To Build A Home" It didn't make me cry, however it did tug at my heartstrings. Those kids had a challenging year to say the least. Being moved from their original schools to open a new school and literally start over again from scratch. They definitely overcame the odds and built their home, earning their first Division 1 in school history. The way they incorporated their alma mater into their show in between Into The Clouds and A House is Not A Home was beautiful, to the soloist singing their school song as the band rotated the props to read "CHS IS HOME" was simply *chef's kiss* Go Bobcats!!

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Just curious, when was the school opened? Super exciting they got their first 1!!! 

[J-Mike16]

  On 10/20/2022 at 4:18 AM, Tubalord11 said:

Just curious, when was the school opened? Super exciting they got their first 1!!! 

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This year, 2022. 

[Tubalord11]

  On 10/20/2022 at 6:14 AM, J-Mike16 said:

This year, 2022. 

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Okay thanks! That’s super impressive getting a one of their first year of existence! 

[JohnSmith]

Panther Creek HS and Emerson HS are the smallest bands in FISD and are better than bands twice their size!