The High School football team is doing very well this year, and I should be happy about that, but I'm not. Because the Marching Band has to perform every time the football team plays now, and they are putting the games in the middle of my Saturday, and that kills the whole day.
Today was our first official playoff game, and while there was a thought in the back of my mind that it would be wonderful if the team lost and then the Marching Band season would be over and we could go back to our normal lives, the reality of the situation was that we knew we were going to beat the other team. We were playing very well, and they were not.
But before we even got around to starting the game, there was all the preparation for the Marching Band. Pit Crew, in particular, since that's my responsibility, began their work at 11 am, pulling out the carts for the front line instruments (marimbas, xylophones, electric bass), setting up the podiums and the marked-off area in the stadium, loading all the equipment we need to take over there, helping the kids load their instruments.
We check a lot of things as we're setting up: gas for the tractors (which pull the carts), tire inflation, gas for the generator (which powers the electric bass while on the field), and a host of other things. We thought we caught everything. But sometimes things just happen.
Like the tractors didn't want to start. It was cold; the batteries were supposedly charged; but the starters whined a few seconds and then stopped. It sounded more like an actual starter-motor issue to me, but we were able to get them both started with the help of a portable battery charger.
Then, on the way over to the stadium, one of the tires blew out. Not "went flat", but "blew out", so that it was just a piece of shredded rubber wrapped around an aluminum rim. We didn't have time to change it out on the way; we performed the pre-game with the blown-out tire, and then I ran back to the trailer and grabbed a spare tire/wheel so we could fix it before half-time.
And another battery charger. For the wireless speaker system.
See, the band directors sit with the band in the special, marked-off "band section" of the bleachers, directing them with peppy tunes throughout the game. They use a wireless speaker system. I'd checked the system prior to heading over to the stadium. They indicated "fully charged". So we put them on the cart and took them over to the stadium. We didn't find out til they started using the system after pre-game that the batteries were actually not fully charged. In fact, they were practically dead. So while I was back at the school getting the spare wheel, I also grabbed the charger unit for the portable speaker system.
Since there is no electrical outlet right near the spot in the stadium where the band sits, I had to "borrow" the generator to charge it up. Which meant we couldn't use the generator for the show. Which meant I had to run around to the backside of the stadium and turn on the field power (because there is an outlet right on the field itself) so the electric bass player could use it for his amp during the half-time show.
Whew! By half-time, I was ready to go home and call it a day. But then the game got exciting.
And we won.
Which means we get to do this all over again next weekend.
Oh, joy.
Today was our first official playoff game, and while there was a thought in the back of my mind that it would be wonderful if the team lost and then the Marching Band season would be over and we could go back to our normal lives, the reality of the situation was that we knew we were going to beat the other team. We were playing very well, and they were not.
But before we even got around to starting the game, there was all the preparation for the Marching Band. Pit Crew, in particular, since that's my responsibility, began their work at 11 am, pulling out the carts for the front line instruments (marimbas, xylophones, electric bass), setting up the podiums and the marked-off area in the stadium, loading all the equipment we need to take over there, helping the kids load their instruments.
We check a lot of things as we're setting up: gas for the tractors (which pull the carts), tire inflation, gas for the generator (which powers the electric bass while on the field), and a host of other things. We thought we caught everything. But sometimes things just happen.
Like the tractors didn't want to start. It was cold; the batteries were supposedly charged; but the starters whined a few seconds and then stopped. It sounded more like an actual starter-motor issue to me, but we were able to get them both started with the help of a portable battery charger.
Then, on the way over to the stadium, one of the tires blew out. Not "went flat", but "blew out", so that it was just a piece of shredded rubber wrapped around an aluminum rim. We didn't have time to change it out on the way; we performed the pre-game with the blown-out tire, and then I ran back to the trailer and grabbed a spare tire/wheel so we could fix it before half-time.
And another battery charger. For the wireless speaker system.
See, the band directors sit with the band in the special, marked-off "band section" of the bleachers, directing them with peppy tunes throughout the game. They use a wireless speaker system. I'd checked the system prior to heading over to the stadium. They indicated "fully charged". So we put them on the cart and took them over to the stadium. We didn't find out til they started using the system after pre-game that the batteries were actually not fully charged. In fact, they were practically dead. So while I was back at the school getting the spare wheel, I also grabbed the charger unit for the portable speaker system.
Since there is no electrical outlet right near the spot in the stadium where the band sits, I had to "borrow" the generator to charge it up. Which meant we couldn't use the generator for the show. Which meant I had to run around to the backside of the stadium and turn on the field power (because there is an outlet right on the field itself) so the electric bass player could use it for his amp during the half-time show.
Whew! By half-time, I was ready to go home and call it a day. But then the game got exciting.
And we won.
Which means we get to do this all over again next weekend.
Oh, joy.
1 comment:
My nephew plays percussion in the pit crew for the glen Allen hs band. They never seem to have this much excitement!
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