Bands start season on high note

CLOVIS — It's already a winning season for the respective marching bands of Clovis and Portales high schools.

Both bands emerged victorious from marching contests Saturday in Texas, with CHS band taking first place overall in the Westerner Marching Festival in Lubbock and PHS band taking best in class at the Tumbleweed Marching Festival in Denver City.

Saturday's contest marked the first time the CHS band performed its full show in public, said Director Bill Allred. Adding to that pressure was the 33 bands in attendance (all of them from Texas save for CHS) competing in a "one round, one shot" elimination.

"The kids did a great job and have a terrific attitude," Allred said. "They were extra nervous but they came through under a little extra pressure than normal."

Allred is in his 22nd year with CHS and this is at least five years running with the band taking first at the Westerner, he said. The band, which includes about 230 students, also won highest scoring percussion and highest scoring color guard among all groups.

This year's CHS marching band show, dubbed "EnCHANTment," merges imagery from Native Americana and Hispanic cultures and is the most "demanding show we've ever done physically and musically," Allred said.

"The kids have been working hard and the administration has been supportive with giving us what the kids and the instructors need. The parents and boosters have been working hard too," Allred said. "You can't have a successful program with any one of those aspects not working well for you."

The PHS band has done well in its first year under Director Kelli Morrison, beating out the other 4A bands in attendance and finishing sixth overall after advancing to finals at the Tumbleweed contest Saturday.

Only seven of 12 bands advanced from the preliminary round, and PHS was the sole 4A band in a finals round dominated by 5A and 6A bands.

"We've been working hard and we didn't really know what to expect," Morrison said of the Tumbleweed contest, which PHS had not competed in for the past couple years. "We knew how much work we'd put in, but we were up against bands that have consistently good programs. Knowing that, I was thinking that we probably wouldn't break finals, based on who the competition was and their reputations, size and longevity."

The PHS band claimed another victory this week when it took the highest score (a "one" on a scale up to five) at the district marching festival Tuesday evening in Artesia.

The 52-member band's show this year, titled "Heroes," consists of musical arrangement from action films such as "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Star Trek." The drill and music were written by PHS alumnus BJ Brooks, said Morrison.

Both bands are scheduled to perform today at the Green and Silver Classic Marching Band Festival co-hosted by Eastern New Mexico University and Portales High School.

CHS band has a few other appointments to look forward to this season, including a competition Saturday in Midland, Texas, the Zia Marching Fiesta Oct. 28., and a Bands of America contest Nov. 4 in St. George, Utah, Allred said.

For PHS band the competitive marching season is ended, though several students are now preparing for All-State and All-District band auditions.

"The rest of our marching season just consists of going out and supporting our Rams at football games," Morrison said.