On all accounts, the Bob Jones Marching band is best known for its musical excellence and Friday night halftime entertainment.

Amid summer heat, most members of the band will find themselves with around 6 hours of after-school rehearsal a week—not including the time put into each football game, and pre-competition rehearsals; however, the time and effort seemingly is worth it. Junior Color Guard member Jada Washington said, “When we get out on the field, we don’t want to practice out in the hot sun, but when we go to competitions, football games, or just listen to each-other practice, it makes me so happy to hear how hard we’ve worked and how much we’ve been working to be where we are.”

The band will perform two shows as usual—a halftime show and a competition show. One for pure enjoyment during halftime, and another for a more appealing experience for judges. Over the summer, the band spent 12 days and over 100 hours practicing for this season during their band camp. Throughout their camp, the band put on three of their football tunes and most of their competition opener.

The halftime show this year will feature songs from the 70s to today, varying from artist, genre, and classification.

“The planning process of both the football show and competition show began in February of this year, so to finally start seeing both of those on the field is a relief,” Director Ms. Thomas said. “I think both shows are going to connect with the crowd in different ways.  The football show consists of music through the decades, all of which were popular songs during their time, and the competition show should connect with the audience because there is such a strong military presence in this area. I think people will gravitate towards the universal nature of the show and what it’s like for those left behind during times of war.”

The Bob Jones Band will march their first halftime show of the 2016 season during Friday night’s preseason game against Dorman.

“Each rehearsal has an effect on the show. Some are better than the others, but the standard has gotten better every year I’ve been here,” senior Drum Major, John Schumacher said, “This year is going to be better than I could imagine, I’m super stoked to be a part of it and I’m excited to see where we go in the future.”

The band will attend every football game of the season and will compete in their first competition on September 17th at the Hendersonville competition in Nashville, TN.