Marching Leathernecks going to Hawaii

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ST_Lawson
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To participate in the Pearl Harbor Memorial Ceremony and Parade on December 7th: http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php ... e_id=18202

The marching band will be performing at halftime of the women's basketball game on Friday, December 3rd before they depart early Saturday morning.
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That's cool for the band. What was your most memorable/coolest experience being a Marching Leatherneck Scott?  :)
 
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Western_101 wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 3:32 pm That's cool for the band. What was your most memorable/coolest experience being a Marching Leatherneck Scott?  :)


 
I wasn't ever able to go on any really big trips like the one they're taking to Hawaii (although joining the Pep Band on the women's basketball NCAA tournament trip to Florida ~5 years ago was pretty cool), but probably the most memorable experience for me was from the 1999 season.
November 6th, 1999, the band traveled with the football team to play at a game at Illinois State. We were only able to stick around until just after halftime though, because we had another gig that night in St. Louis at the Bands of America Regional Championship (competition for VERY good HS bands...we were the exhibition band that night). So, we watched/played in the first half, did our halftime show at halftime, then watched ISU do theirs, then we hit the road. Listened to the rest of the game on the radio in the bus on the way down (we lost, 38-30).

When we were getting close to St. Louis, the staff members on the bus started having us get our uniforms on and get ready, because we were running late (the staff at the event said that. We pulled up to the Edward Jones Dome (then the TransWorld Dome), hopped off the bus, ran into the building, lined up and marched right onto the field without any warmup or anything.
We then proceeded to lay down probably our best performance of one of my favorite shows that I ever got to perform...our "Music of The Who" show. That was also the year that we had one of the greatest trumpet sections I've ever seen at WIU...32 trumpets and they could all play really well (and loud).

You can't really tell in the video (and it looks like fewer in such a big stadium), but there was probably 10,000 loud and excited high school band kids in the stands for the show. Also, you can see me doing the kick for Georgia at around the 14:38 point in the video:


 
 
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Thank's for sharing that. Holy shit I didn't remember how good the Marching Leathernecks were! Also, Damn, those Wranglers looked good 8-) Radio City Hop Kick.....Nice! (read Borat)

"I can see for miles" gave me goosebumps. Also the Western fight song made my eyes misty.  I'm well aware of Bands of America, which is the best in the Nation in High School. To be asked to be an exhibition(they might do two maybe three) at this event is HUGE like up their with the Marine Corps band.

I just want to go back to the '90s *sigh*
 
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Alright, I have to admit I get a bit teary-eyed whenever I hear some good music like that or even a good rendition of the national anthem.  Google says about 25% of the people are "afflicted" with the response.  I just wonder if musicians are ever moved to tears while they are performing.  Or are they so focused, it never happens.  I never played an instrument.  My Dad tried to get me interested in guitar at a young age but it never stuck.
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I just love hearing a good marching band. That was excellent, thank you for sharing. 

can’t wait to have them back in western hall. 

 
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It had to be difficult to keep those 1999 mostly-white uniforms clean.
 
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Man Western was rockin' back then. Great band, Great football, Summer home of the Rams!!!!!!!!!

I sure miss the Ram's. I bet St. Louis is hurting more than me.  Then again maybe not?  The Cardinals left in '88 the Ram's left in '15. I guess St. Louis is a Baseball and Hockey town.  Football doesn't work in St. Louis, either that or it could, it's just been botched a couple times. 

At the beginning of August it felt kinda cool that I was out in the Middle of nowhere along with NFL guys making millions. It was a cool vibe. Times change, things change.
 
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sealhall74 wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 9:01 pmI just wonder if musicians are ever moved to tears while they are performing.  Or are they so focused, it never happens.
 
Yes, it absolutely happens. Not often, but it does happen.
wiu712 wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:37 pmIt had to be difficult to keep those 1999 mostly-white uniforms clean.
 
Oh, it was. Especially when someone would drop a mouthpiece down under the old wooden bleachers that we used to sit on and someone (usually someone small...often me) would have to climb down there and get it.
Western_101 wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 6:06 pm"I can see for miles" gave me goosebumps. Also the Western fight song made my eyes misty.  I'm well aware of Bands of America, which is the best in the Nation in High School. To be asked to be an exhibition(they might do two maybe three) at this event is HUGE like up their with the Marine Corps band.
We were actually the exhibition band three years in a row for big BOA super-regional competitions. '98 and '99 in St. Louis, then '00 in Indianapolis (the old inflated RCA Dome).

For anyone who wants to see a few more videos from "back in the day", below are the video from the 2000 performance (Wild Wild West show) in Indy (we had a really crankin' trombone section that year) as well as a video from 1999 which was, I believe, the first time the crowd yelled for an encore after our first playing of "Georgia". I'm pretty easy to pick out in the second video as well, at around the 0:40-0:50 section, the trombone leaning back the furthest in roughly the middle of the shot is me. And actually, the three people standing on the fence essentially in front of me...the one in the middle wearing the black jacket with red writing on the back...that's my wife (at the time was my fiancée), and I believe the two people on either side of her are two of her sisters. Two of my eventual brothers-in-law are also in the trumpet line in all the performances I've linked to (one of whom is now a choral/vocal music education professor at Western).



 
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"Two of my eventual brothers-in-law are also in the trumpet line in all the performances I've linked to (one of whom is now a choral/vocal music education professor at Western). "

And your sister, too?
 
 
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