At the end of the second quarter of a football game, you may be tempted to head to the concessions, but don’t forget about the new batch of students taking the field. The 2017-2018 Marching Band consists of approximately 185 students who have dedicated two and a half weeks of their summer to perfecting marching technique. They also practiced after school twice a week during the year. The band’s 2017 halftime show features Chicago “25 or 6 to 4,” Edgar Winter Group’s “Free Ride,” and Journey’s “Separate Ways.”

Senior band member Dylan Meyer described this year’s halftime show as an “Oldies show meant to entertain. It’s not really making a statement; it’s just for people to enjoy and I really like that. Personally, my favorite song is “‘Free Ride,’ it seems to fit the band fairly well.”

Band Director Leigh Thomas said, “In general, we always try to pick tunes that the majority of the football audience will know. I think it’s important to play to your audience.  They are there for a show, something to tap their foot to.  It’s fun to hear the audience singing along to our show year after year.”

“This year, we just wanted to pick some classics that would really play to the football crowd and also showcase some of the original horn music on these tracks. ‘Separate Ways’ is my favorite Journey song, so that one was a pretty selfish pick, and ‘Free Ride’ was based on a really good arrangement of the tune I played in college pep band,” Thomas explained.

The show features electronic interludes to introduce each song.

“Mr. Smart came up with the way to introduce each tune. I thought it was super creative that he got Robby Parker and Ms. Lambert to act as callers in ‘WBJHS Radio,'” Thomas said. “Mr. Smart actually recorded the DJ voice as himself, DJ “Special K.’ It’s a fun way to take the audience on a journey through classic rock without the same old stale announcer script, and Mr. Parker and Mrs. Lambert were excited to participate in their own DJ bits.”

Marching does not end after halftime. The Bob Jones Competition Marching Band performs their 2017 show “Luminous” at competitions across Tennessee as well as debuting the show for the surrounding area at the March on Madison on September 26th.

“The competition show this year is something else. It’s very ambitious–the hardest show in Bob Jones history. It’s about the light in all of us, so open to interpretation,” Meyer said.

The band competed at the Hendersonville Golden Invitational September 16th, where the band won second in their division, second in the large division, and best in class percussion.

Thomas said, “We still have lots of surprises in store for this one, especially concerning the use of the big Tesla-like tower in the center of the field.  This show is by far the most challenging show we have designed, so we are excited to see the students stepping up to the challenge.”