Spring Concert #4: Hey, I played that!
Friday, 5-19-06: Hoffman Estates
If you've forgotten, or if you are new to my former schools' concerts, this is the big one. Literally. If you took all the kids from the three smallest schools and combined them, that combined band still would not be as big as the main band here. And this group can play. There are times when the Junior Band rivals my other schools' Senior Bands in terms of fullness of sound, and the other Senior Bands play music that is this group's I-Band level. This Senior Band? They play high school-level music. I'm not kidding--the year I was there, I helped out at a local high school, and in their band director's office I saw the score to Pirates of the Caribbean. We were playing that at the time. (And it's awesome, too.)
So, anyway, I was looking forward to this concert. I wasn't sure if it started at 7 or 7:30, so I figured I'd get there by 7 and be okay. Mr. C reserved a seat for me, so it's not like I had to worry about that. Regardless, the show was at 7:30...but the thing about this school is that the parents get there *early* and line up so they can get good seats. They actually started selling tickets to this concert when I was there. The tickets don't really guarantee you anything, though. Anyway. So the doors don't open until 7, so I stood in line and waved to some of the former students that recognized me. As soon as they opened I snuck into the bathroom--this is a long concert; better go now. Then I snuck into the gym. I don't think the ticket ladies caught me doing that. (Don't worry--my reserved seat was free, so it's not like I stiffed them.) I made sure that one of the reserved seats was for me and then sat and waited. Mr. C had only reserved two seats for himself; unlike last year, it would just be me and Mrs. C. (Last year Kris and Mike came along, and Mrs. S and her family came too. Mrs. S was the one who went on maternity leave, giving me the opportunity to teach.) Mrs. C arrived a few minutes before the concert started, late enough that she didn't get a program. Yes, they ran out of programs. But this is the big concert; not only do you have all the parents and siblings of the band members, but the third graders are here, too. (There were only 60-65 of them, which is a little low.)
First up: I-Band. These kids play so well for being as young as they are. But the sixth graders here do double-duty; they play in I-Band as well as Senior Band (where they get plenty of experience). That's three of the four rehearsals a week, plus they have lessons on Fridays. They play more than anybody--and that's not even including the kids that help out with Junior Band. Yes, some of them play there, too. As Mr. C said, some of them are learning a second instrument, or they're sitting around waiting for a sibling and figure, I'm here, I might as well play. These I-Band kids can play, too. They did a version of "The Pink Panther." If you're anywhere familiar with the song, you know it's not easy--there are a lot of accidentals and rhythms that are unusual for second-year players--and they did it well. I think that's the song that impressed me most. I was amused by the flute players that took turns playing the bells. Mr. C has had a dedicated bells player for several years, but she's graduating; there's a chance one of these flute players could take over for her. One of them was *really* good! It didn't surprise me when Mr. C had the kids stand to show who won what medal at solo contest, and this particular girl had gotten a perfect score. She did not win Outstanding Band Member, though, which made me sad.
Junior Band was second. I was seated at the opposite end of the gym, so I couldn't see them that well. All I noticed was that one kid, who was a trumpet beginner two years ago, was playing percussion. Wait... Then, after I got home and looked through last year's program, I saw that in the meantime he'd played alto sax. Whoa. Kid, pick an instrument! Or maybe he'll be a band director when he grows up and he's just gaining valuable experience; who knows. He seemed like he did okay on percussion--the drummers were about all I could see. Oh, and there were a couple of kids who got perfect scores in Junior Band, too--a rare feat. Good for them. And lest I forget--Mr. C is very proud of his trombone beginners. There must be a lot of them, as I recognized only one name out of six in the program. And Mr. C also liked the beginner trumpets as well, calling them "a gas." Not that he's partial to brass or anything. ;)
There's always an issue when it comes to Flutophones here, mainly because there's no place to put them while the first two groups perform. To set the stage, so to speak, there's two band set-ups. The one on the left is where I-Band, Flutophones, and Senior Band play. The one on the right is for Junior Band. They stay in the same place the whole time. While I-Band is in the set-up, Senior Band sits in chairs on the stage. After Junior Band finishes, Mr. C dismisses the I-Band to the stage and calls the third graders forward, out of the audience. However, it never fails: The Senior Band thinks it's time to go into the set-up. So half the kids come down and start to file into the seats, but once they've reached the floor one of the adults notices what's going on and stops them, then Mr. C says something and the kids file back on stage. Seriously, especially with the ones that have done this a few times, you'd think they'd learn. But no. Anyway, the Flutophones weren't anything remarkable, though for the first song ("Mary Had a Little Lamb") they did have an interesting echo effect. :) Mrs. C and I, having heard the Fabulous Flutophone Fable an inordinate amount of times, groaned at every part of the story, especially where the fable didn't flow well (we have GOT to fix the "Old MacDonald" part). I think we shall make it a mission to work on said fable.
Once that was done, Mr. C brought in the Senior Band. As soon as they were seated, he raised the baton. I thought he was going to run through a scale to warm them up--but no, he went right into the first song. He didn't introduce them or anything. He also started fiddling with the program. This is a long concert--about two hours--so he cut a couple pieces (including the one I was looking forward to hearing, "Denbridge Way"--that was a song I did in my early years as a counselor). Strangely enough, he also added one, "Funiculi, Funicula." You may not know it by title, but you'd recognize it if you heard it. (Think of a fast-paced classical Italian song. That's probably it.) There was also a percussion ensemble piece that I later found out shouldn't have been performed. The section leader was sick and went home from school that day, but returned in the afternoon for the concert and then came to the evening concert. School rules state that if a kid goes home, he's out for the day, but I guess since he showed up, Mr. C let him play, and since he was there, they might as well do the special percussion piece. It was pretty good, if a bit long. The one weak link was the same weak link from two years ago; I can't tell if this person just doesn't have rhythm or what. The next song after that was "Highlights from Grease." It was really good, and even more entertaining were the dance routines the fifth graders sitting on stage performed. Seriously--the hand jive? Covered. Greased lightning? Covered. I was honestly surprised that they even knew them, but they cracked me up. This was a relatively light-hearted concert. Normally there's not a lot of pop songs, but this one, crap. Opening number? "Everything's Coming Up Roses." The other cut song? "Gonna Fly Now"--that would be the theme to Rocky. The Grease piece. And the showstopper? "The Eighties: A Decade Remembered." Ohhh. *drool* I couldn't wait for this piece. Unfortunately, it made me feel very old. Mr. C pointed out that none of the kids in the band were alive in the '80s. And then...and then... So Mrs. C and I were listening along to the different songs that came up. Sometimes it took a while for us to recognize them, but there they were--the Olympic fanfare and theme, the theme to ET, uh..."Like a Virgin" and "Faith"??? You're allowed to perform those in a Catholic school? Please, God, tell me they don't know the words to those songs... (says the girl who lip-synched to "Like a Virgin" as a seven-year-old). But wait: "Somewhere Out There?" Holy crap, I played that in seventh grade! That was the tenor sax year! And "Don't Worry, Be Happy"? That was sixth grade! I played that too! Oh, holy crap, I'm so old. I played those songs when they were *current*, and now here they are in a retrospective. Then we got to a couple of older songs, like "Flashdance" and "Footloose," I think. That's when Mrs. C leaned over to me and said, my kids played those. Yikes. Oh, man. I just sat there laughing the whole time (well, except when I was horrified during "Faith"). Mr. C had said there were about fifteen different songs in there; I think there were more. Phew. But it was a great piece, and they played it well.
Oh, the other amazing thing: This school is graduating thirty-five band members. That's more than the entire bands at most of the other schools, and two and a half times the amount of grads from the other three schools so far combined. Tomorrow night's school may have a decent amount; we shall see. There are some big shoes for these other kids to fill. The Junior Band is a decent size, so let's hope most of them stay in. But the third graders, there's not that many of them as in the past, so if only half of them join band, that's not going to replace the ones that are graduating. Hmm. Cross you fingers.
I stayed around and helped clean up the chairs and everything. I even got to help put stands away, which was an interesting treat--I didn't remember how the stands first went on the rack, so one of the kids had to show me. :) Honestly? That's one of the things the kids actually like to do for cleanup after rehearsals, so it's not something I did a whole lot of even when I was teaching. But I did remember how to smoosh the stands on the rack so you could fit more on, which I'm sure amazed one of the dads who was also helping with stands. I ended up leaving around 10, with Mr. C and Jerry (who works at the church and also helps out with the concert) saying they'd be talking to me about camp stuff. Come on, guys; it's the big year. We have to do something special! (Jerry asked if I was going, and I said I thought I was; was he? He joked that he started packing three months ago. "You too?" I said. I always said my goal was to be Jerry. I'm almost there.)
If you've forgotten, or if you are new to my former schools' concerts, this is the big one. Literally. If you took all the kids from the three smallest schools and combined them, that combined band still would not be as big as the main band here. And this group can play. There are times when the Junior Band rivals my other schools' Senior Bands in terms of fullness of sound, and the other Senior Bands play music that is this group's I-Band level. This Senior Band? They play high school-level music. I'm not kidding--the year I was there, I helped out at a local high school, and in their band director's office I saw the score to Pirates of the Caribbean. We were playing that at the time. (And it's awesome, too.)
So, anyway, I was looking forward to this concert. I wasn't sure if it started at 7 or 7:30, so I figured I'd get there by 7 and be okay. Mr. C reserved a seat for me, so it's not like I had to worry about that. Regardless, the show was at 7:30...but the thing about this school is that the parents get there *early* and line up so they can get good seats. They actually started selling tickets to this concert when I was there. The tickets don't really guarantee you anything, though. Anyway. So the doors don't open until 7, so I stood in line and waved to some of the former students that recognized me. As soon as they opened I snuck into the bathroom--this is a long concert; better go now. Then I snuck into the gym. I don't think the ticket ladies caught me doing that. (Don't worry--my reserved seat was free, so it's not like I stiffed them.) I made sure that one of the reserved seats was for me and then sat and waited. Mr. C had only reserved two seats for himself; unlike last year, it would just be me and Mrs. C. (Last year Kris and Mike came along, and Mrs. S and her family came too. Mrs. S was the one who went on maternity leave, giving me the opportunity to teach.) Mrs. C arrived a few minutes before the concert started, late enough that she didn't get a program. Yes, they ran out of programs. But this is the big concert; not only do you have all the parents and siblings of the band members, but the third graders are here, too. (There were only 60-65 of them, which is a little low.)
First up: I-Band. These kids play so well for being as young as they are. But the sixth graders here do double-duty; they play in I-Band as well as Senior Band (where they get plenty of experience). That's three of the four rehearsals a week, plus they have lessons on Fridays. They play more than anybody--and that's not even including the kids that help out with Junior Band. Yes, some of them play there, too. As Mr. C said, some of them are learning a second instrument, or they're sitting around waiting for a sibling and figure, I'm here, I might as well play. These I-Band kids can play, too. They did a version of "The Pink Panther." If you're anywhere familiar with the song, you know it's not easy--there are a lot of accidentals and rhythms that are unusual for second-year players--and they did it well. I think that's the song that impressed me most. I was amused by the flute players that took turns playing the bells. Mr. C has had a dedicated bells player for several years, but she's graduating; there's a chance one of these flute players could take over for her. One of them was *really* good! It didn't surprise me when Mr. C had the kids stand to show who won what medal at solo contest, and this particular girl had gotten a perfect score. She did not win Outstanding Band Member, though, which made me sad.
Junior Band was second. I was seated at the opposite end of the gym, so I couldn't see them that well. All I noticed was that one kid, who was a trumpet beginner two years ago, was playing percussion. Wait... Then, after I got home and looked through last year's program, I saw that in the meantime he'd played alto sax. Whoa. Kid, pick an instrument! Or maybe he'll be a band director when he grows up and he's just gaining valuable experience; who knows. He seemed like he did okay on percussion--the drummers were about all I could see. Oh, and there were a couple of kids who got perfect scores in Junior Band, too--a rare feat. Good for them. And lest I forget--Mr. C is very proud of his trombone beginners. There must be a lot of them, as I recognized only one name out of six in the program. And Mr. C also liked the beginner trumpets as well, calling them "a gas." Not that he's partial to brass or anything. ;)
There's always an issue when it comes to Flutophones here, mainly because there's no place to put them while the first two groups perform. To set the stage, so to speak, there's two band set-ups. The one on the left is where I-Band, Flutophones, and Senior Band play. The one on the right is for Junior Band. They stay in the same place the whole time. While I-Band is in the set-up, Senior Band sits in chairs on the stage. After Junior Band finishes, Mr. C dismisses the I-Band to the stage and calls the third graders forward, out of the audience. However, it never fails: The Senior Band thinks it's time to go into the set-up. So half the kids come down and start to file into the seats, but once they've reached the floor one of the adults notices what's going on and stops them, then Mr. C says something and the kids file back on stage. Seriously, especially with the ones that have done this a few times, you'd think they'd learn. But no. Anyway, the Flutophones weren't anything remarkable, though for the first song ("Mary Had a Little Lamb") they did have an interesting echo effect. :) Mrs. C and I, having heard the Fabulous Flutophone Fable an inordinate amount of times, groaned at every part of the story, especially where the fable didn't flow well (we have GOT to fix the "Old MacDonald" part). I think we shall make it a mission to work on said fable.
Once that was done, Mr. C brought in the Senior Band. As soon as they were seated, he raised the baton. I thought he was going to run through a scale to warm them up--but no, he went right into the first song. He didn't introduce them or anything. He also started fiddling with the program. This is a long concert--about two hours--so he cut a couple pieces (including the one I was looking forward to hearing, "Denbridge Way"--that was a song I did in my early years as a counselor). Strangely enough, he also added one, "Funiculi, Funicula." You may not know it by title, but you'd recognize it if you heard it. (Think of a fast-paced classical Italian song. That's probably it.) There was also a percussion ensemble piece that I later found out shouldn't have been performed. The section leader was sick and went home from school that day, but returned in the afternoon for the concert and then came to the evening concert. School rules state that if a kid goes home, he's out for the day, but I guess since he showed up, Mr. C let him play, and since he was there, they might as well do the special percussion piece. It was pretty good, if a bit long. The one weak link was the same weak link from two years ago; I can't tell if this person just doesn't have rhythm or what. The next song after that was "Highlights from Grease." It was really good, and even more entertaining were the dance routines the fifth graders sitting on stage performed. Seriously--the hand jive? Covered. Greased lightning? Covered. I was honestly surprised that they even knew them, but they cracked me up. This was a relatively light-hearted concert. Normally there's not a lot of pop songs, but this one, crap. Opening number? "Everything's Coming Up Roses." The other cut song? "Gonna Fly Now"--that would be the theme to Rocky. The Grease piece. And the showstopper? "The Eighties: A Decade Remembered." Ohhh. *drool* I couldn't wait for this piece. Unfortunately, it made me feel very old. Mr. C pointed out that none of the kids in the band were alive in the '80s. And then...and then... So Mrs. C and I were listening along to the different songs that came up. Sometimes it took a while for us to recognize them, but there they were--the Olympic fanfare and theme, the theme to ET, uh..."Like a Virgin" and "Faith"??? You're allowed to perform those in a Catholic school? Please, God, tell me they don't know the words to those songs... (says the girl who lip-synched to "Like a Virgin" as a seven-year-old). But wait: "Somewhere Out There?" Holy crap, I played that in seventh grade! That was the tenor sax year! And "Don't Worry, Be Happy"? That was sixth grade! I played that too! Oh, holy crap, I'm so old. I played those songs when they were *current*, and now here they are in a retrospective. Then we got to a couple of older songs, like "Flashdance" and "Footloose," I think. That's when Mrs. C leaned over to me and said, my kids played those. Yikes. Oh, man. I just sat there laughing the whole time (well, except when I was horrified during "Faith"). Mr. C had said there were about fifteen different songs in there; I think there were more. Phew. But it was a great piece, and they played it well.
Oh, the other amazing thing: This school is graduating thirty-five band members. That's more than the entire bands at most of the other schools, and two and a half times the amount of grads from the other three schools so far combined. Tomorrow night's school may have a decent amount; we shall see. There are some big shoes for these other kids to fill. The Junior Band is a decent size, so let's hope most of them stay in. But the third graders, there's not that many of them as in the past, so if only half of them join band, that's not going to replace the ones that are graduating. Hmm. Cross you fingers.
I stayed around and helped clean up the chairs and everything. I even got to help put stands away, which was an interesting treat--I didn't remember how the stands first went on the rack, so one of the kids had to show me. :) Honestly? That's one of the things the kids actually like to do for cleanup after rehearsals, so it's not something I did a whole lot of even when I was teaching. But I did remember how to smoosh the stands on the rack so you could fit more on, which I'm sure amazed one of the dads who was also helping with stands. I ended up leaving around 10, with Mr. C and Jerry (who works at the church and also helps out with the concert) saying they'd be talking to me about camp stuff. Come on, guys; it's the big year. We have to do something special! (Jerry asked if I was going, and I said I thought I was; was he? He joked that he started packing three months ago. "You too?" I said. I always said my goal was to be Jerry. I'm almost there.)