With flags and plumes flying in the wind, 11 marching bands combined melody and spectacle at a competition at Lincoln-Way High School in New Lenox over the weekend.
From symphonic strains to movie themes, from precise military-style marching to flowing balletic movements, bands from suburbs and city pulled out all the stops Sunday to fill the Lincoln-Way football field with color and motion.
Cindy Pepper and Gary Niedermeier, co-chairwoman and co-chairman of the contest for the Lincoln-Way Band Boosters, estimated 2,000 people turned out for the show.
Niedermeier credited the large audience to “the fact that we’re local and this is a local show.”
The weather cooperated, too.
“It’s windy,” said Pepper.
“But it’s warm,” Niedermeier added, “and the wind keeps the bees away.”
The Lincoln-Way Marching Knights, who came in second at a competition at the University of Illinois on Saturday, staged an exhibition performance but did not compete, Pepper said.
The grand champion title went to the Thunderbolt marching band from Andrew High School in Tinley Park, whose show, “Escape from Plato’s Cave,” added a philosophical note.
The performance opened with musicians lying on the field, then slowly rising to play.
“Andrew is known for a lot of dramatics,” noted Lincoln-Way Band Booster David Errek of New Lenox, who sported a red T-shirt identifying him as a “Flute Dad.”
Band parents are a devoted group, said his wife, Susan Errek. “Our motto is, `All band all the time,’ ” she said.
The Marching Spartans of Romeoville High School, formed the numbers “007” and presented music from James Bond films.
Another crowd-pleaser came from the Marching Mustangs of St. Rita High School in Chicago, who played tunes from the movie “Batman.”
“They formed a bat. It was awesome,” said Ryan Budzinski, 13, of New Lenox, one of several junior high school band members who ran errands during the show.
Helping out at the field show was a good preview of high school, according to Anna Vainowski, 13, a junior high school band member from Mokena.
“It gives you a chance to see what there is when you get to a different level,” she said.
Marching band membership is a lot of work but also carries a big reward, according to Jessica Manley, a sophomore member of the Joliet West High School Marching Tigers color guard.
The thrill comes “when you go out on the field,” she said.
“It’s suspenseful,” added Keshia King, another junior color guard member from Joliet West.
“It’s fun when you hear them clapping for you,” said Allison Vanderdy of Lansing, a junior from Thornton Fractional South High School’s Marching Rebels.
Judging competitions such as Sunday’s event is a difficult job, according to Pete Pappas of Aurora. “It’s more complicated. Every year they add more (routines) and the bands get better,” he said.
Pappas, a retired band director from Glenbrook South High School, said his job was to rank bands on their general musical effect, “if the students are getting their show, if they’re communicating with the audience.”
First-, second- and third-place trophies were awarded to schools in three size categories.
High schools competing were Fenwick, Nazareth and Trinity, all of La Grange Park; Morton West of Berwyn; St. Rita of Chicago; Thornwood of South Holland; Lemont High School; Andrew of Tinley Park; Romeoville; Brother Rice-St.Laurence of Chicago; Thornton Fractional South of Lansing; and Joliet West.
First-place winners in each category were: St. Rita in Class A; Andrew in Class AA; and Brother Rice-St. Laurence in Class AAA.
