On August 30th, we traveled to Lavaca to catch the Lavaca Golden Arrow and Mountainburg Dragon Marching Bands for part of of our Friday Night Feature.
The weather was perfect for the opening night of marching season. Before the game, we caught up with Lavaca Directors, Logan Dooley and Tyler Huntington, and Mountainburg Director, Robert Kain. They were all excited for the season and looked forward to seeing their students perform.
In the Lavaca Band stands, the members were in uniform and sporting a new hat. Mr. Dooley stated that the students received the hats from an area sponsor. He also made a deal with the students, during school if they ran the show in the rain then they could wear the hats for the game.
During the game, both bands were waving at each other and dancing to each other’s stand tunes. The spirit of both bands was a big part of the night. Students in the Lavaca Band were cheering on their team and enjoying the night.
Over on the visitor side, the Mountainburg Band was just as excited. The color guard was dancing while the band played stand tunes. When asked about the progress of the band, Mr. Kain stated that they have their opener on the field but are still working on marching sets.
At about four minutes left in the second quarter, the bands started to prepare for their halftime performances.
Lavaca formed an arch and warmed up on the show music. Across the field, the Mountainburg band was doing the same. In the final minute before halftime, both bands made their way to sideline.
While they waited to take the field we watched as the Lavaca percussion walked over and excitedly greeted the Mountainburg percussion.
On the field, the Mountainburg Band performed first. They performed their opener “Into the Clouds” of their 2019 show. The Lavaca Band was next to take the field. Their 2019 show is titled “Classic Rock” and it features the songs “Go Your Own Way” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”
As each band watched, they cheered and yelled for the other. The crowd was very pleased by both halftime shows.
The performances by Lavaca and Mountainburg were a great start to the season.
Lavaca has their whole show memorized and will be working on sets throughout the season. Mountainburg has their opener memorized and is working on the sets for it.
You can catch the next performance of the Mountainburg band on September 6th at Cedarville. The next performance for the Lavaca Band will be at Subiaco Academy on September 6th.
Our Week 2 Friday Night Feature will be the Waldron Bulldog Band and the Mansfield Tiger Band on September 6th in Waldron.
