First Somerset Football Band. I became the director at Somerset Canyons in 2016. In 2017 I felt it was time to put together a football band.
Football Band
Before I dig into the story of our first outing, let me clarify something. We never had a marching band at Somerset Canyons. We had a football band.
What’s the difference?
We played from the sidelines. I have an intimate knowledge of what it takes to field a marching band and I never felt that Canyons had the will or the facility to field a marching ensemble.
I also resisted the term ‘Pep Band’ because we only played for football games. We didn’t do any basketball games.
Planning
In 2017 the Canyons band was very small and young. The majority of our best players were middle schoolers. I knew that we would need to do a few things.
- Keep the music simple
- Stick to just a few tunes
- Get some help
I chose simple tunes and put together a group. (These were volunteers. I never compelled anyone to perform at games.)
My son was a killer tenor sax player. I begged him to play with us and he agreed.
We had what we needed to get started.
Recorded Music
I hate recorded music at games. I understand it. It’s cool to play some popular music loudly through the biggest speakers you can afford.
But, I’ve always believed that if you want the band to play at the game, you need to can the canned music. And, our administration wanted us to play at the games.
I had been to a Canyons game and noticed that there was a ‘DJ’ who played a LOT of music.
Canyons layout
Somerset Canyons is laid out in an ‘L’ shape.
The buildings are two stories tall. The DJ set up on the second floor of the bottom of the L.
At this time Canyons had no bleachers or score board. Spectators stood or brought lawn chairs. It was hard to keep track of the game. You had to ask someone what the score was, what quarter we were in, etc.
I decided that we would set up next to the DJ on the second floor. This was probably my passive aggressive way of dealing with the canned music.
But I also believed it was important for the DJ to know when we were playing in order to avoid overlap.
Conflict
In hindsight, I should have talked to the DJ before the game started. We might have worked out how we could peacefully coexist.
I caught a lot of ugly looks from the DJ while we were setting up.
The game started.
I had the kids jump in quickly when we had the opportunity to play.
Side note. You’re only allowed to play during a dead ball situation. You have to squeeze anything that you’re playing in between the ‘snaps’.
I felt that we were sharing the time fairly evenly.
The DJ apparently disagreed.
The DJ exploded, “I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU’RE HERE!”
There must have been some lead up to that outburst, but that verbal explosion is the part that I remember.
I’m not big on direct conflict. So, I told the kids to pack up and we called it a day.
I didn’t want to get punched in the mouth and I didn’t want any of my kids to get assaulted.
Wrap-up
Our Principal, Mr. G, approached me on Monday. A parent of one of the band kids had relayed to him what had happened at the game.
Mr. G told me that he was unhappy with the way we were treated and that he would deal with it.
He did. I never saw the DJ at another game and we played at a few more games.
Thanks Mr. G.