Over twelve marching bands competed In the Marching Band Open Series competition hosted by DHS at Allen Layne Stadium on Oct 16.
Band students arrived at 8:00am to practice for their annual MBOs competition. The night before, band boosters arrived at 6pm to set up the first of the posters, BBQ’s, and recyclable trashcans. Co-Band Instructor Mr. Fell and Drill Instructor Andrew Maloney pushed the band past their limits striving them to play clean.
Downey competed with three other bands in their division but that didn’t stop their determination to enter the finals. Drum line continued to practice even after their scheduled four-hour practice to perfect their rolls and visuals. Drum Captain Alberto Montoya believes that their performance at this competition will be better than their performance at their last.
“The drum line performance at Kennedy High School was pretty good but we expect this next performance to be over the top,” Montoya said.
Vikings arrived to the gate ten minute before to carry on their pre-performance traditions. Drum line gathered around their instruction Clinton Zachau and sang “My Girl” by the Temptations. Color guard arrived right when it was time to perform and set up for their performance. Band boosters put together Pyramids to represent the Egyptian theme titled The Riddle of the Sphinx. Coaches sat in the stands during the performance. Drum line coach Mr. Zachau believes that the performance might have been good but it could be better.
“ There was a lot of things in the show I believe could have been better but we still have a few months til the end of our season so we have a lot of time to improve our drill and music,” Zachau said.
Downey received third place entering them in the finals with bands from different divisions. In finals they received 6th place out of eight. Melophone player Stefani Lang believes that the reason for their low placement is due to the little things that were missed.
“We did pretty well, but many people missed really small parts that may have ended up costing us points,” Lang said.
Currently the band looks forward to Championships in Las Vegas where they will stay for two days. The competition is right after the Downey vs. Warren game coming up in November, where they will also be performing.