Marching band prepares for new show, ‘The Machine’

Bearden High School’s Marching Band will kick off its season at Friday night’s football game with an innovative new show, The Machine. “As you watch the show, you will actually see the band looking like and sounding as if they are a machine,” band director Mrs. Megan Christian said. The music of last year’s show, Clockworks, is similar in style to that of the new production, but The Machine is much harder to perform. “Compared to last year, the music is equally difficult, the marching is a little more difficult, and the tempo is very similar,” sophomore Michael Lepard said. The band puts hours of work into preparation for the show.They go to band camp for a week out of the summer from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.learning the music and practicing the steps. “Physically, it was very tiring, but it was worth it because we got a lot done,” junior Sydney Mollica said. This new show will head to Philadelphia in November to perform in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, the oldest parade in the country. They will also perform in Knoxville’s annual Veteran’s Day Parade. They will also take their show to three competitions this year, though the dates will be announced at a later time. The focus for now, however, is on the debut of the show at the first football game. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it will come out on the field for the first time and then at the end of the season looking back at the improvement,” junior Jerry Hamilton said. The band will have a car wash on Aug. 25 in front of Office Depot on Kingston Pike in order to raise money for the band to have more opportunities.Specific times for this event will be announced soon. Zoey Line is a staff writer for The Bark. Follow The Bark on Twitter@BeardenBARK and like The Bark (Bearden High School) on Facebook.