For our Week 2 Friday Night Feature, we highlighted two rivals that are known for their football and their bands, the Alma Airedale Marching Band and Van Buren Pointer Pride Marching Band.
The Battle of the Bone, if you know anything about football in Crawford County then you know that this is a big deal. These two school have such a strong rivalry that some people I know will not go to the game if it is away from their school. As I arrived, I saw many cars tagged and decorated with their school colors. For this game I was able to get on the field and have more access to take pictures and talk with both band directors.
I arrived just in time to live stream the Alma Band marching into the stadium and prepare for their pregame festivities. The band does a full pregame show that includes the National Anthem, the Alma Mater, and the fight song. The pregame show starts off by the PA playing of “Proud to be an American.” This is really amazing to witness if you have never before. After the fight song, the band marched into an A formation on the field that the football team would run through.
The Van Buren band was there in full capacity. They were sitting in the visitor bleachers where it was very crowded. The drum line kept the band and student section awake and alive for the game. I was able to get into the stand to take pictures and be with the band after the color guard left to warm up.
Over at the Alma band stands, they were playing stand tunes and having a great time. A few students posed for pictures and talked to me. The band had a wide range of stand tunes that were very good. There was never a dull moment during the game between the game, the stand tunes, and the countless Van Buren fight songs.
Just before halftime we were able to watch the Van Buren drum line warm up in the parking lot. This line is very tight and together. They were student lead and very focused on their warm up. Their sound and work ethic made me think of a drum corps. They spent about 6 minutes warning up before they started to run a few lines of their show material. Afterwards we were able to catch the Alma drum line and front ensemble warm up before the show. It was really great to hear them warm up together. They also sounded a lot like a drum corps warming up in the lot.
For halftime we were unable to record both bands shows due to copyright. I respect the band program and their writers in effort to protect their work. So if you are interested in seeing the Alma or Van Buren band’s 2018 show then attend one of their home games or the Region 8 Marching Assessment. Alma and Van Buren only preformed their show openers but they were great. After Tuesday’s game, I look forward to seeing what they have in store for the rest of the season. These bands have put in a lot of hard work over the summer and they will continue to do so in the coming months.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed both bands at the game. It was great to take pictures and meet the band directors of Alma and Van Buren. I look forward to seeing the progress of both band programs this year. I will be seeing you both later this season.
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