On Friday, August 18th, the preview night, BASH Marching Unit had their first show titled, “Thank You For Flying BASH Airways.”
Many of the band members have strong and differing opinions on how the show went. Jess Smith, a sophomore who plays the alto saxophone in the band, said, “The show went well, it was fun hanging out with friends after the show and eating at the food trucks.” She also said, “It was a good experience for the freshmen who are new to being in the marching band. They can get a good feel for the field and they can learn what happens at a competition before actually going to one.”
Alaric Seasholtz, who plays the mellophone, an instrument bigger than a trumpet but smaller than a baritone, states, “The show was a success the second time, which I agree with because nobody really was in the right spot the first time we performed the show.” He also said that the brass feature was great, but the props were hard to move and kept falling, and the grass was hard to move in because of how uneven the grass was.
Shawn Tsichlis, a freshman clarinet player, thinks the show was a failure. “The clarinet line was off the whole time, and the woodwind feature was not good,” he says. “The show was a good experience as a freshman though because it showed us what a show would look like.” Jason DiMarzio, a sophomore who plays guitar for the front ensemble, stated, “The show was a success and it was good for our first show. It was a nice taste test for the freshman because they actually played on the big field in front of people. The front did not have a hard time setting up everything that they had to play, it was like second nature.”
Shaunak Bangalore Shashikanth, a flute player for the band, voices, “The show was a success and it was a good experience as a freshman, but there were things that could be improved on. For one thing, the props were hard to move with the small wheels and uneven ground.” On the topic of uneven ground, he also said, “The grass was hard to move in. But there were good things about it too, like how the flute section was strong during the whole show.”
Overall, everyone said that the grass was hard to move in and that a lot of people were off; however, the winds and front ensemble were strong when they were playing and everyone showed that their hard work paid off. They are still learning new music and drills for the rest of the show during the week and the weekends.
Make sure not to miss a home football game because the BASH MU will be playing on the field and in the stands, showing off their hard work for everyone to see and hear.
