By Jake Munson
On Saturday, October 19, the Vicksburg “Big Red Machine” Marching Band performed its final competitive show of the 2024 season at East Kentwood High School. This year’s show, “The Fabric of Time,” examined the human fascination of time, past, present, and future, always fighting against the tyranny of the clock.
As the show did, the season has come to a close.
With solid, high-scoring performances at the Portage Central, Kenowa Hills – the grand champion of this event, Otsego, and East Kentwood Invitationals, there is a lot to be proud of this season. Drum majors Ella Luegge, Frankie Loriso, and Blake Sutherland commanded the podiums and the band of 130 faced many challenges throughout the season in both the music they played, and in the drill they marched.
“The Fabric of Time,” composed by Gary P. Gilroy, features three movements; this suite features a near-four-minutes-long opening number. In addition, the band marches at least twice as many drill sets as their competitors for a more exciting audience experience, enhanced by visual elements such as body movement, the impact of the color guard with their dance and flag choreography, and this year’s giant hour-glass prop, created by some inventive and design-savvy band parents.
The band works hard all season, beginning at band camp during the first week of August, when they go to Epworth Forest Conference Center in North Webster, Indiana. They live together for a week, putting in an incredible amount of work, including a series of morning workouts and a run before breakfast, and then they work on memorizing and learning new music and drill for most of the rest of the day. This week builds trust, community, and creates a family environment for the program. They return at the end of the week for a community performance to showcase the hard work they have done. They perform at every Friday night home football game, and then compete on three weekends in September and October at four different marching competitions, in addition to the non-competitive MSBOA District XI Marching Festival Performance, and exhibition performance at the end of the 9th Annual Bulldog Marching Band Invitational, both of which were held at Vicksburg this year.
The Bulldog Invite is one of the biggest fundraisers for the Vicksburg Band program, featuring 18 different bands this year, bringing thousands of fans to fill Bulldog Stadium, and after a quick shift indoors due to inclement weather, the High School gymnasium. Though moving indoors meant no more full marching performances, the bleachers were packed full of spectators for the music-only performances to end the night.
This has been another successful, award-winning season for the Big Red Machine and the band is grateful for the support of the community, the volunteers who make each season a success, and to all the BRM Band family members and fans who keep the machine running. Visit vicksburgbands.com to learn how you can get involved or help support the band program through donation or volunteering.
