University of Oregon Fessssssstival of Bands

The Tigard High School Marching Band and Colorguard hit the road this weekend for our annual trip to the University of Oregon Fesssssssstival of Bands. Because of our early play time (8:49 a.m.) and our Friday night football game, we decided to take the teens down late Friday to make room for a little bit of sleep. Motel 6 on Beltline was our home for the night.
A car alarm went off about 1:30 a.m., waking most of the sleeping guests. Turns out it was one of our buses. It finally timed out, but not before several of Springfield's finest came to check it out.

We were all up way before dawn, enjoying a very dark, chilly breakfast of bagels and bananas on the sidewalk.
After unloading at Autzen and a short warm up, it was time to wait at the ready gate. The "pit" is all the area on the front sideline where the non-marching instruments (timpani, marimba, synthesizer, gong, concert bass drum, etc., etc.) go. The "pit crew" is the adult group in charge of moving all that equipment on and off the field very quickly to avoid timing penalties. Here's the pit players waiting to go on:
Here's the pit crew (best in the circuit, I might add!):
And the parents who sandbag our props to keep them grounded, literally:
Side note: Notice my beautiful garden cart? It's now in pieces. Too much sand and not enough strength. I am very sad :(

After our performance, it was time to check out of the hotel, eat a lovely brunch (the pit crew went to IHOP!) and head into the stands to watch other bands. Eryn and I accompanied mom into the directors' lounge in the press box area for an awesome aerial view of the field, stands and the surrounding hills. Our kids are the ones in purple - very convenient for tracking purposes!
Here are all the band camps set up next to the stadium. It's definitely a cultural experience!

Here's Camp Tigard. Our super-sweet equipment trailer:
And the chuck wagon to feed the masses:
It was renovated and tricked out by the Gary Fantz, band booster extraordinaire (and my grandfather!)

In the late afternoon, seniors Trenton, Ashley and Scott suited up and went to the sideline to represent Tigard in the preliminary awards ceremony.

Allie, a Tigard High grad and current UO music student, was one of our hosts for the day. She came to hang out after her band put on a little show for us.

In our single-A category, we took high percussion and fourth place out of 18. Our score was higher than last week but not high enough to make finals. It was disappointing, but the kids learned some things about themselves and their show and have stuff to work on before next time.

Next up, PCI Oct. 20 at Willamette University.If you're interested in checking out the fun, let me know and I can hook you up!