They Don’t Call It WINTER Percussion for Nothing!

This past weekend, Woodlan Percussion competed in their first competition of the season at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis. They have been hard at work preparing their show for this competition. They lost several hours of practice due to the snowstorm a few weeks ago, but they were ready to compete! This year, brand new shiny uniforms were ordered, and they look SHARP! Fortunately, they came in JUST in time and were distributed on Thursday evening. They all look so good!

The new percussion and guard uniforms - so sharp!

Saturday morning, everyone met to load the trailers bright and early at 6:45am. There was a bitterness to the air that made it quite uncomfortable to stand around for long outside! There is a lot of equipment to haul this year, so there was quite a bit of figuring out how to make everything fit in three trailers. They got it all to work eventually and everything somehow fit in. The students had a breakfast of muffins, donuts, fruit, and Sunny D. We were all ready to go!

For Week #1 competition for the Indiana Percussion Association at Franklin Central High School, there were originally 8 bands scheduled to compete in our class, PSB (Scholastic B Marching Class). This week, 4 of the bands withdrew from the competition for whatever reasons (not ready due to the snowstorm, COVID, etc). Though the competition schedule was pushed back about a half hour, Woodlan Percussion decided to leave at the original time, which ended up being a very good thing!

On the drive down to Indianapolis, drivers encountered a wintery mix of snow, blowing winds, and icy patches on the road. I’m not sure any of the parents were expecting it to be as bad as it was. On our drive to Indy, we saw numerous slide-offs and one pick up truck that had landed on its roof. It was pretty scary! We also were stopped several different times in backed up traffic. So, any of the time we had to “get there early” was gone and we did not have much time to spare when we got there. Fortunately, the bus arrived safely and the kids were ready to perform!

Drumline during warm-ups

Front ensemble during warm-ups

Band Moms having fun!

Guard during warm-ups

A quick pep talk by Cody before show time!

Woodlan Percussion did a great job on their first performance of the season. They performed the first two parts of their show, with more on the way for the future (after seeing some of part three tonight at rehearsal, I can hardly wait to see them perform the entire show… it’s going to be amazing!). Woodlan competed second out of the four bands in our class. After they finished their performance, it was straight to the trailers we went to load the equipment…with no coats. At the time, it was softly snowing, and the wind was still bitter cold. And there was a lot of equipment. Most of the kids were freezing in their thin uniforms and huddled together to keep warm. Welcome to the WINTER part of Winter Percussion!

Woodlan Indoor Percussion - ready for their first performance!

Brendan Maska performing a trombone solo

Trying to stay warm as the trucks were being loaded - welcome to Winter Percussion!

The kids were all too happy when they were released back into the school to change out of their uniforms. Afterwards, they were able to grab food from the concession stands and sit together in the stands to watch other bands perform. They all seemed to have a great time. So did the band parents! This was different than last year’s layout, in which the groups arrived at school, warmed up, performed, loaded trailers and buses, and left. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, groups were not able to stay after and watch the other groups perform. This year’s format made for a longer day, but everyone had a great time. Especially after the last group performed, when they played some very singable and danceable songs, like “Sweet Caroline”, “I Want it That Way”, and “Livin’ on a Prayer”. The crowds on both sides (students and parents) all seemed to have lots of fun.

Awards Ceremony

At the awards ceremony, Woodlan Percussion was represented by the four ladies in Winter Guard. They accepted the 2nd place award on behalf of the group. The rankings in our class were:

4th Place: Scottsburg High School Winter Percussion

3rd Place: New Prairie High School

2nd Place: Woodlan Indoor Percussion

1st Place: Northeastern Indoor Percussion

Thankfully, the roads were much better on the drive home, and we returned to the school around 8:15pm to unload the trailers. Again, in the bitter cold. Did I mention this was for WINTER Percussion? 😊It was a great first competition weekend for Woodlan Percussion. Now on to more rehearsals and learning new features for next week’s show! It’s going to be great!

Next weekend, Woodlan Percussion will be performing at Noblesville High School. Our itinerary looks much the same next week, with Woodlan performing 4th out of 9 bands in our class at 1:06pm. Awards will be held at 4:32pm. Let’s hope we have better weather this upcoming week! I hope you can come down and help cheer on this amazing group of kids! They are working hard to be ready for this weekend!

* Tickets will be $7 for Adults, $5 for Students (K-12, College), $5 for Seniors (65+), and Children under 6 are Free.