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Adjusting the speaker, drum major Laura Yoes ’27 assists in preparation for warm up. Each band is allowed around an hour of time in the warm up lot before each performance to get ready physically and musically with the help of directors, technicians, and drum majors.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
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Amidst a sea of colorfully uniformed band students, Charity Kao ’26 and Luke Lercher ’29 search for someone new to talk to. After each competition is over, students from every participating band are given the opportunity to celebrate and meet each other on the field.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
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Holding all of their equipment, members of the color guard line up behind their director. The band and color guard line up in the same neat order at every competition to ensure the process of getting on the field runs smoothly.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
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Finishing their salute, drum majors Rachel Zhu ’26, Eileen Wu ’26, Cynthia Liu ’26, and Theo Wong ’26 acknowledge the announcement of the Westwood Band as a participant at BOA Waco. During the preliminary awards ceremony, each school in attendance was announced, and drum majors performed a unique salute, related to theme of their marching show.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
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During full retreat, the Westwood Warrior Marching Band color guard captains and drum majors pose with their trophy. The band placed sixth in finals after placing eighth in prelims.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
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Carrying his sousaphone and water jug, Miles Brooks ’29 walks with the rest of his section. When performing during some of the hottest parts of a day, band students keep their water with them for as long as possible as they walk towards their performance.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
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Standing in a forced arch position, clarinet players Maxwell Fullerton ’27 and John Magdaleno ’28 complete their choreography. Often throughout the show, students must perform choreography and play music simultaneously.
Courtesy of Owen Fowler
Smashing school records, the Westwood Warrior Marching Band placed sixth in finals at the Bands of America (BOA) Waco regional competition on Saturday, Oct. 18. Up until this competition, Westwood had only placed in the top six at a BOA regional once.
“I think the band has gotten a lot more cohesive throughout the years,” Blair Qiao ‘26 said. “The culture has gotten a lot better, and I think everyone is more locked in.”
The band had an early call time to arrive in the cafeteria ready for the long bus ride to McLane Stadium at Baylor University. Students brought many forms of entertainment to keep them busy on the road.
“I was playing some Clash Royale and some Brawl Stars. I also slept for about two to three hours. I brought my airpods and listened to some Chinese music, C-Pop,” Qiao said.
Besides entertainment, students used their time on the bus to prepare to partake in a long-standing tradition of “clipping.” The tradition of “clipping” entails students secretly attaching decorated clothespins to students from other bands. By the end of the day, students compare and see how many clothes pins from different bands they got.
“The clips are just fun uplifting things that you write on clips,” Addy Dobies ‘29 said. “And then you clip them on people and it’ll say things like ‘I loved your show’ or ‘your uniforms were great,’ that kind of stuff.”
Rolling into the parking lot after their long trip, students were excited to see the Baylor campus for the first time and find out what bands were in attendance.
“I thought the Baylor campus was really pretty, and the stadium was really cool because when you released a note it echoed,” Dobies said.
Fighting heat exhaustion and sunlight in their eyes, the band headed to warm up for their preliminary performance. Then, they marched into the unfamiliar stadium and performed their show.
“Honestly, I thought prelims warmup wasn’t as locked in as it could’ve been,” Dobies said. “The performance was okay, I feel like the band could’ve done better if the weather wasn’t as bad.”
The band quickly changed out of their uniform after their prelims performance and ate lunch before heading into the stands to watch other bands and enjoy concessions.
“I got a pink lemonade from concessions and then sat down to [watch] other bands because I like watching bands perform their marching shows,” Dobies said.
After all of the competing bands performed their preliminary performances, the drum majors walked onto the field for drum major retreat. The top 12 scoring bands were announced in random order. Westwood scored eighth in prelims and advanced to finals.
“I was kind of stressed out during announcements at first because we didn’t get top three in our [class], but once our name was called I was really happy,” Dobies said.
With finals starting soon, the band had a quick turnaround time to eat dinner and be ready for finals. During warm up, it started drizzling, but despite the distraction, the band’s focus was electrifying.
“During finals warm up I think I was really focused, watching the drum majors and listening to instructions,” Qiao said. “I think being locked in during warm up and staying quiet really solidified the run. I had a really solid run, maybe my best run yet, and it was reflected in the results.”
At full retreat, the band anxiously awaited hearing their name each time a new placement was called. The band was ecstatic to hear they had earned sixth place and achieved their goal for the competition.
“I was really surprised that we were able to jump into top six,” Qiao said. “I was really happy about the results. I thought we deserved higher but based on prelims results I think it was a win.”
The band will next compete at UIL Area on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex.
