The Marching Warrior Band takes the field during halftime with this year’s show “Ten-Cut,” featuring movie music from popular films like “The Avengers” and “Game of Thrones” theme songs, and “Hey Pachuco,” from “The Mask,” as well as “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” from “Hairspray.”
“I like all the songs that we are playing,” junior Sean Frey said.
Montoursville’s marching band is one of the biggest groups in the high school and they are the biggest high school marching band in Lycoming County.
“Our strength is numbers,” band director Mr. Chris Morgan said. “We have a big band.”
One of the reasons band members choose band is because it has a flexible practice schedule.
Senior Kayla LeFever, who is also this year’s student choreographer for the color guard, said, “I’m in dance and I wanted something that wouldn’t interfere with my dance schedule.”
Senior Zavien Allen also works band into a busy schedule, playing for Montoursville’s football team and marching band on Friday nights.
Besides fitting into busy schedules, the band also allows students to gain leadership experience within the group and have an outlet for creativity.
As LeFever said, “I’m in color guard and I am the dance captain.”
The band also offers additional leadership opportunities like being drum major or a section leader. Section leaders are in charge of helping to plot drill, which is all of the movements the band has to learn for a show during band camp, and serve as a resource of information for fellow band members.
In addition, being in the band also allows students to cheer on their fellow schoolmates and connect with other students in a positive atmosphere.
“I love that I get to hang out with my friends and go to the football games,” said LeFever.
This year, the band starts its show with the theme song from, “The Avengers,” and then plays their band-favorite, “Hey Pachuco.”
Lefever said her favorite song is “’Hey Pachuco’ because the guard gets to do a really fun dance that I choreographed.”
Allen also said his favorite part of the show is “’Hey Pachuco’ when we first split the block and have the drum solo.”
The third song the band plays is the “Game of Thrones” theme song, featuring the color guard performing with swords.
Finally, the band performs “Can’t Stop the Beat,” featuring the band doing one of their signature dances during a percussion solo. The Montoursville marching band is known for doing a dance during one of its last songs every year, where the whole band puts down their equipment to have a dance break, except for the percussion section, which has a solo that the band dances along to.
This year’s theme is a bit different from previous themes, which have often featured rock ‘n’ roll music. The current movie theme was chosen by Morgan, who said, “I like movie music and I think we needed something other than a rock show. We did rock for the past ten years.”
When not on the field performing their show, the band continues to entertain the audience by playing music in the stands for the rest of the game.
Morgan said, “We have a lot of fun on Friday nights. I like the stands more than I thought.”
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