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When Mt. Vesuvius erupted on Aug. 24, 79 A.D., the people of Pompeii didn't see it coming.
They were killed by the volcano in the very spots where they stood.
The Warsaw Community High School marching band and color guard are taking that historical disaster and using it for their theme this year.
Band director Mickey Ratliff said "Vesuvius" also is the title of one of the pieces of music they play in the show. Assistant band director Matthew Gratton said he looked for other pieces of music to go along with "Vesuvius" that presented what a volcanic eruption would sound like. Audiences should definitely have that feeling of a volcano eruption and fear when they hear the music, Gratton said.
The introduction to the performance is rather slow. Ratliff said the music then goes into a section from "Purgatio" called "Bacchanalia" that is fast paced and energetic. The next section slows down, but is a dance from "Vesuvius" they are calling "Tango."
"It should be pretty neat because it involves the drummers," said Ratliff, and one of the drummers does the tango. The show ends with another high-energy section called "Eruption."
Gratton said some of the music interprets the daily life of the people of Pompeii before the volcano erupted. But the hardest part of the movement to pull off, he said, is their ballad, the "Tango." Sometimes the hard part is not the pieces with many notes, but in making it musical, he said.
"It's definitely going to be different than anything people have seen before," said Gratton.
Senior Cedric Poage, trumpet, said the pieces have a lot of emotion in them, a lot of happiness and fear. The music is a little simpler than last year, he said, but the marching band makes up for it because they're playing better and making the show look better.
In terms of dificulty of the music, Ratliff said this year's pieces are easier than last year. That's not to say they are easy, but last year, Ratliff said the marching band "bit off a little more than we could chew." The marching band this year is pretty young, with almost one-third being freshmen, so Ratliff said they decided to back off on the technical difficulty.
Camp for the WCHS marching band began Monday and will continue for two weeks. In the morning, students start with stretching and warm-ups. They practice the music. Later, they go outdoors and work on the drill. By the afternoon, they work on putting the music and drill together.
The first public performance of "Vesuvius" is at WCHS' first home football game Aug. 19. Generally, Ratliff said, for the first football game, the band just performs part of the show or a standing-still version of it, depending on their comfort level. But it won't be long until their first contest - Sept. 10 at Goshen. The band will compete in six contests this school year.
"I expect we'll make it to the regional level and receive a first division there," said Ratliff. He said he believes they can reach that level because of the students' enthusiasm and hard work. Tuesday, as the band practiced outside on the hot pavement in 90-degree weather, Ratliff said no one complained.
"I have a very, very strong feeling we're going to get out of district this year," said Poage. He said getting a first division ranking at regional would be nice, too.
Senior Rachel Crisp, a member of the color guard, said, "We will make it to regionals. We have the girls spinning together already."
She said the group this year has much more leadership than in the past, especially the upperclassmen who are doing a really great job.
Ratliff agreed that leadership is great this year. His philosophy of leadership is that you lead by example so everyone has the potential to be a leader. This year, more are leading by example than in years past.
"I think marching band is an excellent vehicle for the kids to strive for and achieve excellence. I think many people see us at the football games and parades and think that's what marching band is," said Ratliff. But marching band teaches students to work together and to set and achieve goals.
Poage said, "I look forward most to seeing just everyone grow and how much better we're going to grow together."
Gratton said his goal is for the students to have a sense of purpose, to give a good performance and feel responsible for the quality of the show. If they feel that, then how well they place in a contest doesn't matter.
Community support is important to the marching band, Poage said, because it's a great feeling for the students when the show ends, they're sweating and people cheer for them. That great feeling makes them want to work harder.
"Come check it out," said Crisp. "It's cool, it's different. It's a good night of entertainment. I'd go."
