Strike up the bands

CLOVIS — The Clovis High marching band has not lost a competition in the last two years, casting a spell on judges wherever it goes.

The Wildcats will look to continue their winning ways as they prepare to begin competition season and perform their new show "EnCHANTment" for the first time on Saturday.

The colorful show blends imagery from Native American and Hispanic cultures and will include large crescent moons, medicine sticks, enchanters and enchantresses, among other features.

"It's the most demanding show we've ever done physically and musically," Band Director Bill Allred said.

The first test for the Wildcat band will come on Saturday at the Lubbock Marching Contest, a competition Clovis has won the past five years.

Allred said the Lubbock competition presents a bit of a different challenge as there is no preliminary round, meaning the band gets just one shot to impress.

"It's a little stressful," Band Secretary Garrett Jordan said.

Band President Adi Rodriguez thinks the hard work her bandmates have put in leading up to this will pay off.

"Our focus is better this year," Rodriguez said. "We're really working hard this year. I feel like this Saturday we'll be prepared."

Band Treasurer Megan Edwards pointed to the development of the color guard as a key for the group.

"The color guard is very, very good this year," Edwards said. "From past years, they've been pushed a lot more, so that's really good."

Other important competitions for Clovis include the de-facto state tournament, the Zia Marching Fiesta, on Oct. 28 and the Bands of America Contest (BOA) in St. George, Utah from Nov. 2-5.

"Zia is our own state, we have to take care of our own backyard, that's most important," Allred said.

Clovis has taken first place 15 times at Zia, including each of the last five years.

The Wildcats have not been back to St. George in five years and will look to improve upon their third-, fifth- and eighth-place finishes at the competition in the past.

"It's a nationally recognized program so even attending makes you like, 'wow, you're actually going to BOA, that's crazy,'" Edwards said.

Allred said the national competition will be a good barometer to see how far the Wildcats have come.

Portales High's marching band is also preparing to begin competition on Saturday at the Tumbleweed Marching Festival in Denver City, Texas.

Kelli Morrison has taken over as band director at Portales and she will be leading the band she grew up playing in as a kid.

"For it being my first year and the kids getting used to me and me getting used to the kids, we're in good shape," Morrison said.

Morrison said her group is right on the border of being one of the top seven teams that moves on from the preliminaries into the finals in Denver City on Saturday.

"We could possibly break that barrier but it will depend on how in the zone we are," Morrison said.

Morrison is hoping to see her band improve each time it takes the field at its three major events.

"My goal is as we go through these three competitions that the adjudicators don't say the same thing and each result gets a little better," Morrison said.

For Portales its marquee event will be on Oct. 12 when it co-hosts the first Green and Silver Classic along with the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhound Sound Marching Band.

Portales will open the event with a performance and receive feedback from the judges before Clovis competes against Roswell, Goddard, Lovington, Levelland and Cibola.

The Greyhound Sound band will also put on an exhibition.

The event will start at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

"We'd love to have our local community come support us for that," Morrison said.