Happy first day of classes!
After a long week in the sun, our MVs are ready to dive into their coursework – some for the very first time in college. While they settle into their classrooms and wait to come back for practice this evening, we’ll review the some highlights from the past week – band camp!
Photo courtesy of Daniel Gaete
Every day brought something unique to band camp this year. It was a wildly productive and successful week! We put nearly two full shows on the field (two weeks before our first game!), distributed uniforms through a carefully curated algorithm and the help of many hands, made new friends and so much more.
Monday - Friday
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday saw our MVs reuniting, getting to know one another and starting to get our feet under us. We worked on fundamentals, drill for our first show – which is September 7th against Marshall University –, music new and old and so much more.
On Thursday, we started setting drill for our pregame show! This year, pregame will be the Boston College game – keep an eye out for our performance! Some of us have been marching the same dot for years, and some of us were brand new to the show. Everyone did great! We also practiced stand tunes.
Thursday morning also saw our annual band camp DRILL DOWN. This intense event is a Simon-Says style marching competition. Our winner this year was Nik Stapleton!
Photo courtesy of Atlas Vernier
With Friday morning off for required meetings for our first-year meetings, returners slept in before we all reconvened at the MVC in the afternoon. For both afternoon and evening session this day, we worked on setting and cleaning shows.
Saturday
After a standard morning session, the MVs spent the afternoon in Lane Stadium, practicing some different arrangements in the stands and putting our shows to real grass. On the way there, we had our first March to Victory of the season! This was especially exciting for new members.
In the evening, we hosted our livestreamed Meet the Band concert. The band got to watch the color guard perform, and then the drumline. Their performances were great! We wish we had more opportunities to watch their hard work, and are so grateful for everything they do on and off the field. Once they finished, the band performed drill from the two shows we’ve set and performed some spirit spots and stand tunes in concert arcs as well.
Photo courtesy of Atlas Vernier
Saturday ended with great excitement and equally great solemnity. Before the livestream, our retired director Dave McKee came to the MVC to give a speech about the importance of this 50th anniversary season and to share information about long-standing band traditions and how this program has the potential to shape lives. After the livestream, we performed our traditional Superman ritual (I’ll save the details – we want future marchers to experience the joy in person!), and we dismissed for the evening.
Sunday
The band got to sleep in late on the last day before classes, with an afternoon call time of 3:30. After a short rehearsal, we performed our second March to Victory of the season and made our way to Lane Stadium for the annual Hokie Hi Spirit Rally.
At the Spirit Rally, formerly known as the Hokie Hi Picnic, we performed a number of pieces from our gameday repertoire to assist dance and cheer in their efforts to teach the Class of 2028 what to do at a game. Lively despite the heat, the band had a great time calling out different variations on the “LET’S - GO - HOK - IES” signs carried on the field.
After we played, leadership, first-year members and some helpful returners filed onto the field to form the big VT outline for the annual freshman picture. We hope they remember to pick up a copy to take home!
All in all, band camp was a great success. We have our left feet forward and are ready to get started!