Last week, the Bison Brigade traveled to Troy and Lake Whitney to compete in two invitational marching clinics. These invitationals helped the Brigade figure out what needs to be improved before the UIL marching contest this Saturday. The group is working this week to fix problems that judges mentioned in their program.
“Neither of the performances were the best that this band can do,” brass captain Sonia Dominguez said. “I was not happy with the performances because some people, myself included, messed up on fundamentals. I think that our Lake Whitney performance was better than our Troy performance, because we fixed some of the issues, but it still wasn’t one hundred percent.”
At the Troy competition, the Brigade ran into Suhani, a former member of the Bison Brigade that moved to Fairfield. A group of Brigade members watched and waited for her and when they saw her, they tackled her with hugs.
“It was nice seeing an old friend, especially since it was so unexpected for me,” color guard captain Sean Haycock said. “I miss Suhani and I was happy that I got see her. Even though our mini reunion was cut short, it’s nice to know that she is doing fine.”
At the Lake Whitney marching competition, the Brigade hoped to make it to finals. However, after marching their show, they knew that the chances of making finals was very slim.
“I feel like the Brigade’s performance at this contest was just okay,” assistant drum major Yzabel Salazar said. “I think that nerves and tiredness affected the performance, because there wasn’t as much energy and dumb mistakes had been made. Honestly with the mistakes made during this performance, I knew that more than likely we weren’t making it to finals.”
While the marching bands were waiting on the results at the Whitney competition, the announcer had some technical difficulties. Instead of just standing there awkwardly in front of everyone, all of the drum majors had a dance off.
“All of the drum majors were awesome,” freshman Maria Dominguez said. “I thought that it was cool that they decided to kill the time with a dance off. The crowd was lit and I was really enjoying the dance off because it was hilarious.”
At both competitions, the Bison Brigade scored a three on their performance. The judges told the Brigade the same thing that the band director and drum majors have been telling them all year.
“I absolutely agree with all of the things that the judges said about us,” freshman Maria Dominguez said. “I know we can totally improve ourselves before UIL, if everyone focuses on those things.”
