Before the 30 ft burgundy coach bus even turns onto the street where Chestatee High School is, you hear it; the loud “booms” and “pows” that can only be the sound of drums. To one who is experienced in attending band competitions, this sound is welcoming and invigorating. The students’ bodies begin to shake with anticipation of the events that are to come. Finally when the bus is parked you are welcomed by a high school band student of the school hosting the event. In her band’s show shirt and jeans, our guide for the day arrives and asks every band member to follow their orders so their competition experience can run smoothly. Standing at about 5’3″ with strawberry blonde border line orange hair, freckles scattered across her face and a set of wire frame glasses surround her pear green eyes. She directs us to our warm up area and to the field for the performance. After warm up and the big performance, the entire band and staff feel a small weight lifted off their shoulders. All that remained was to watch other groups perform and see the results.

When you finally walk into the stadium, you are greeted by the strong smell of grilled meats, popcorn, coffee, pizza and many other foods that are quick and easy to prepare. You are also greeted by a sea of people preventing you from getting these so desired foods in a quick fashion. Try as you might, maneuvering through ninety people in line for three different stations is no small task and must be done with keen awareness and slick movement, or like a truck and a lot of “I’m sorrys”. Andrew is a senior in high school with a very fair complexion, glasses and a lanky build. His hair was long and curly resembling a tumbleweed. I conducted an interview Andrew Harris who played bass guitar for Wesleyan High School’s marching band and he said that he loved band competitions but he wished there was more room for people to move around and purchase food. After finally getting to the front of the line for concessions you look down at the upper abdominal height wooden bar counter and look at the small white laminated sheet of paper which contains the content of the menu and you decide what to order. You know that whatever you order will be good because band parents prepare everything with the utmost respect for band students and they would not let you down this time either. You also know what you are about to consume is some of the greasiest, most savory food you will eat in a while but you don’t care. It’s that food that lets you know exactly where you are and what you’re doing. Hamburgers, Hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, French fries, cotton candy, and most importantly the little balls of sunshine with a soft chocolaty and mushy creamy interior known as fried Oreos,  a commodity at any band competition.

Now you have your food and the next anticipated part about band competitions is getting the opportunity to watch other groups who have put just as much work and effort as you perform their own shows. You take your seat in the now chilly concrete stadium seats surrounded by your fellow band mates, staff and parents covered in band merchandise who are cheering for their children and around them are other bands and their fan bases. Being in northern Georgia, the temperatures dropped quite a bit and sitting on the concrete without a blanket or sweatpants was asking for a cold in the morning. While interviewing Andrew he said that loved watching other groups perform because there were some groups he knew his was better than but he still clapped for them and understood that every year in band yields different talent; however, his favorite part about spectating was definitely watching groups that were better than his own. To watch high school groups perform at such a high level made him aspire to be a better musician. He described that when listening to certain groups he feels as if he is in a trance. The amount of sound and the quality of sound these groups produced was mesmerizing.

According to Andrew, this is a special space to any marching band member. It is their “Saturday Night Lights.” A space in which the entire day is dedicated to them and their craft. Their friends and family come to watch them perform a show they have put hundreds of hours into perfecting and they also get watch others perform and talk to others that are just like them and share the same love. Ultimately where they compete comes down to where the band director decided is the best place for the kids to perform but almost regardless of where it is they are competing, the same sense of comradery and unity betwixt marching band members is the same.