This year’s Wayland Union High School marching band show is titled, “Are We There Yet?!” It’s a family oriented show about those long car trips to various destinations with the ones we love: a family vacation.
“I wanted a show
that would give us, as a band family, a strong connection to each other.
I also wanted to be able to connect with our audience on a familial
level, and what better way to do that than through music that almost
everyone will know?” explained Kelli Smith, the district’s Band Director.
Show titles include Holiday by Green Day, Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts, and Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver.
The
band will perform at all home varsity football games and three marching band
invitationals around West Michigan. For the first time ever Wayland will be hosting the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) Marching Band Festival on Tuesday, October 10. The event will feature several bands that will be adjudicated based on music,
marching, and overall effect. This ticketed event will be open to the
community.
In order to prepare for the jam-packed season, students have been working hard since July, including a week-long band camp to learn music, marching patterns, and choreography. Marching Band is under the direction of Kelli Smith and Color Guard is led by Becky Sikkema.