The first major show/camp weekend started off for me like almost every other. With predictable procrastination. Work the night before prevented me from packing, so I woke up on the wonderful Saturday morning at 5:00 am. After scrounging the fresh laundry from the night before, I loaded up my own belongings along with two of my fellow hornline members, and we made the 45 minute drive to Eden Prairie.
The trip was a breeze, and the entire corps loaded the buses with ease. Save for some minor seating issues, we set off on time! While I would like to be able to tell you how long we were on the bus, I don’t actually know, as I spent the majority of the trip fighting for our “Social Media Crown,” attempting to stage a mutiny against our lovely drum major, Nancy.
Once we arrived, we were honestly flabbergasted by the quality of our lovely rehearsal site, Alexandria Area High School. The hospitality expressed by our hosts is such a blessing for us, and we couldn’t be happier with the facilities. After lining some football fields and eating lunch before rehearsal, we had a solid rehearsal block that saw major improvements in our Mad Circus.
After getting some grub for dinner (Taco Bell is my meal of choice), we geared up for our first uniformed performance. There was a large crowd in attendance that included Minnesota Brass fans, Alexandria Marching Band members and families, and perhaps the most unique, members and families from Store Bergan Skolekorps all the way from Norway! While perhaps they offered a different performance style from what we usually think of for a field show, it was nevertheless very entertaining! It was lovely to help host and welcome a great group of individuals that help carry the marching arts beyond the borders of North America.
After our Norway friends performed, we filed into our lineup for our performance. But, not too far into the distance, fairly threatening clouds carrying a severe thunderstorm were on the way. Administration ultimately decided to move our performance inside, to the auditorium. The entire audience and performers acted extremely professional in the wake of such a timely Mad Circus of a scenario.
Once the corps and audience squeezed into the auditorium, we were able to perform our show at a standstill. It was a wonderful performance, and put an excellent conclusion on all the work we had done throughout the day and the season so far. Post-performance, our amazing hosts, the Alexandria Band, left us desserts that we were able to enjoy before our last smidge of rehearsal to conclude the day (thank you again!). Once we regained our composure, we gathered for a quick speech from Eric (our corps director) and began a short hour-ish long rehearsal block indoors (we got to wear flip flops!). In the words of our brass caption head, Paul, the hornline matured astronomically in just the one day. Acting with consummate professionalism, Minnesota Brass ended up being wonderful ambassadors of not only ourselves, but the United States for our Norwegian friends. I am incredibly proud to be a part of this organization and can’t wait to see what the rest of the weekend brings!
For All We Know.
