The Topeka High Marching Band Performs Well at the Capital City Marching Band Festival
The Topeka High Marching band performed in the Capital City Marching Band Competition on October 10. The event started at 6:30 and the next three hours were filled with exciting and impressive marching performances, punny jokes and funny announcements from the competition announcer, and supporters’ applause.
The last issue of Topeka High’s The World newspaper highlighted the dedication of the Topeka High marching band, and again, during this performance, they shined.
It was cold, windy, and the competition was glaring at them as they marched onto the field and began, again, with the 2001: A Space Odyssey opening theme. The pressures of competition and weather showed no effect, though, as the fluidity and music shined, leaving the crowd with the same entertainment the fans at football games experience during their half-time shows.
Other high schools relied upon using theatricals, visuals and sounds pumped in from large speakers to boost the fun of their performances, but Topeka High relied solely upon their music and a single baton twirler, and the effect made the performance pure and impressive for the right reasons.
After all the Topeka area high school bands performed, the Washburn University marching band had their own energetic performance, with stunning trumpet solos, a baton twirler, and cheerleaders finishing the night with a bang.
The Topeka High Marching Band won two awards for their great performance and finished the night tired and with large smiles on their faces.
The winner of the event was Buhler High School, who performed very well, though every school had something that made their own performances unique.
One of the most unique and stunning performances was by Topeka West, who had a very theatrical and themed performance well suited for October. Their cheerleaders were dressed as evil clowns and they had a carnival announcer walking around, mouthing the recorded and ominous vocal lines that were played with the scarily-themed songs, captivating the audience. It was an experience, and the audience loved it.
The hard work put in by every band is impressive so going out and watching the “culmination of [the band’s] work,” as drum major Andrew Hodgkinson calls it, of every high school was something great, and I think they’d all be proud of the product they put onto the field.
