5:30 PM - The Band has just
learned that instead of playing an opening show, they have been
asked to play the full sized half-time show at Shabazz Stadium
this evening. So they headed over to Rowley Park for some last
minute rehearsals of the changes they would need in order to make
that happen.
6:00 PM - In the above photo,
they have just returned from rehearsal and discover that the
buses have already arrived to take them to Newark. Now it's rush,
rush, rush to get in uniforms and get on the bus!
6:45 PM The dancers are ready to
board the bus first, but the rest of the band is beginning to
line up outside the school prior to boarding the buses and
heading off to Shabazz Stadium in Newark, NJ.
By the time they arrive at the
stadium the game has already begun and West Side High School has
already scored 7 points. The football team cheers up as they see
the band arrive. Now they'll be energized to play harder and
begin to score points of their own!
And like a magic energizer
battery, when the East Orange Unified Marching Band band begins
to play, their East Orange Campus High Jaguars football team
begins to make touchdowns. In the photo we see the backs of our
three drum majors and mascot. Left to right, they are Naji
Cherry, Drum Major Mascot; Allan
Theodore, Assistant Drum Major; Bria
Douglas, Drum Major; and Lloyd
Tomlinson, Assistant Drum Major.
The scoreboard at half-time reads
West Side 7, East Orange 14. The Unified Marching Band takes to
the field and you can see and hear the show in the video below.
Unfortunately, the new videographer, Al-Quadir
Marsh, who has been taking still photos
up until tonight, does not realize he can use the zoom lens to
get close-ups. We'll have that fixed by the next game.
After the show, the band
continues to play in the stands as the football team continues to
score touchdowns in the field. Mr.
Goode, the band director seen in the
foreground slightly left of center, is looking pleased with both
his band and the effect they seem to be having on the football
team. Does it really work? Look at the final score and you be the
judge.
