Pacific Northwest Marching Band Championships

After not getting together with my cousins since 2019 and my aunt and uncle since 2022, we saw each other this year in March and July. Unfortunately, both times were for memorial services. While it was wonderful to spend time together, it was a bummer that it was for such a sad reason. Steve and I decided we'd make a weekend trip to visit them in the fall. We planned our trip around seeing my cousin Tim's son, Aiden, compete in the Pacific Northwest Marching Band Championship on October 11 in Mead, Washington.  

It had been about 3 decades since either Steve or I had seen a marching band competition and boy, have things changed! But before I get into that, I want to start with October 10, the day we flew into Spokane. It was a beautiful day, with blue skies. The weather was perfect as we enjoyed a walk around the lake where my aunt and uncle live. 

We had dinner at Das Stein Haus. Yum. 

Uncle Don, cousin Tim, Tim's wife Ginger, Steve, me, and Aunt Vickie. 

On Saturday morning, we headed to Mead for the competition. There were 15 schools participating and each school performed the same routine twice. We missed the first few performances driving, looking for parking, and getting settled in our seats, but that was fine since we saw them later. During the preliminaries, the smallest and lowest ranked bands (1A) performed first, working their way up to the largest, highest rank (for this competition, 4A). Then after a break, they performed again in reverse order based on their scores in preliminaries. 

From the first performance we watched (Highland High School performing "Hunger Games"), it was immediately obvious that high school marching band field shows are different than in my day. I hadn't seen large screens and banners on the field like that before, nor musicians in a pit. The pop culture theme surprised (and delighted) me. It was so much fun to watch the show!

West Salem's "Web of Dreams" was stunning. Look at all those cages! And the gigantic 7's. By the way, 

Ginger had gotten us perfect seats: high and directly on the 50-yard line.

"The Wildflower" by Central High School was absolutely gorgeous. I loved the color scheme, the interesting patterns, and the giant flowers that opened. 

Mead High School's "And Still... I Rise" was breathtaking. I loved the staircase props and how they moved and interacted with them. 

It was a fun surprise when they revealed that the stairs spelled out the name of their show. 

Next up was Aiden's school, Cheney High, performing "The Engulfed Cathedral." They also used staircases, but theirs were shaped differently and they interacted with them in different ways. That stage in the front right was for an electric cello solo. The performance was incredible. 

That's Aiden at the top of the purple staircase. 

We were mesmerized watching AC Davis High School set up that loooooong raised platform for their performance, "Seize Your Moment." 

Watching it transform during the performance was neat... 

... and it was a total surprise when the final piece opened up to make a star. 

The performance from Mt. Spokane called "Love, Ellie" was really neat. 

It was such a fun surprise when a single red balloon floated out of Carl's house and the band formed into a giant red balloon. I didn't catch those on camera, unfortunately. 

Lewiston High School performed "How Wonderful Life Is" - a tribute to Elton John. 

Ridgeline dazzled with "The Drop that Contained the Sea."

At the end of preliminaries, Ridgeline was in 1st. Aiden's school (Cheney) was 4th.

During the break, Ginger gave us a tour of the 'backstage' area. 

Most impressive: the Cheney band boosters raised enough money to buy their own semi, which is outfitted to carry instruments, costumes, and props. 

  

Each show they've done is on the wall inside the semi. The graduating seniors sign the panels. 

The boosters also have their own food truck to feed the students. A team was busy preparing huge amounts of yakisoba when we came by. It smelled delicious.  

This is where the band eats. Buckets and boards provide lots of seating.  

There's also a trailer for hauling gear. The students ride in three buses. 

After our tour, we used the rest of our break to find food... and shelter. You probably noticed the grey skies in all of my photos. We had had light rain - mostly sprinkling - on and off until this point, but then the rain became more steady. 

During the final round, we saw all of the bands compete, including the ones we had missed earlier. There were some fun themes: the Northern Lights, farming, coal mining, and the California Gold Rush. I didn't take a lot of photos due to the rain, but here is a sampling:  

There's Cheney again. They ended up placing 5th out of 15. If you're interested in seeing the scoring, including the 8 categories in which they're judged, you can see that here. 

On Sunday, we all gathered to celebrate Uncle Don's 75th birthday. 

Dessert was one of the famous apple pies that the Cheney band students make each year as a fundraiser. It was SO good. I'm disappointed they have to be picked up locally, but if you happen to live near Cheney and haven't had one, you should definitely order one. Or ten (they freeze well). 

Card games are a must when we get together. By the way, that's my godson Teagan standing to my left. He's a future member of the Cheney High Marching Band. 

All too soon, it was time for Steve and I to fly home. We had a wonderful weekend with family. And, despite the rain, we loved watching the marching band competition. We now have plans to watch one locally. If you have the opportunity to go to one, definitely do!