St. Vrain Band Night brings SVVSD bands together

The annual St. Vrain Valley School District's Band Night was held on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Longmont High School. Every high school marching band in SVVSD met to build comradery and perform their halftime shows for the other bands.

St. Vrain high schools that performed included Lyons (performing "Ex's and Oh's" with the Unified Drumline), Skyline (the music of Santana), Silver Creek (Jackson 5 music), Frederick ("The Macabre"), Mead (Michael Jackson hits), Longmont ("Night of the Living Chickens"), Erie ("Echoes of Tomorrow"), and the Niwot High School's "Pride of Niwot" ("Night at the Movies").

This non-competitive exhibition also drew participants from Roosevelt High School (Johnstown) with their "Everything is Lego" halftime show, and Northridge High School (Greeley) performing selections from the musical "Grease."

This 2024 season marks the 41st iteration of this event, as it has been in existence since 1983, with a hiatus due to COVID in 2020. This year was the third year where bands have gathered at the end to perform "Sweet Caroline" as a combined SVVSD band.

The unified drumlines, consisting of students with special needs, have combined since 2023 to perform a drum cadence for the audience as well. New this year was a drone show at the end of all performances, courtesy of the Drone Team at the SVVSD Innovation Center.

"One band, one sound" is a quote made famous from the 2002 movie Drumline. Muskan Dhillon, junior color guard member from Silver Creek, shares that sentiment. One of her biggest takeaways and observations from Band Night was "before going on (the field), my team was asking last-minute questions, bonding, and hyping (each other) up.... It really helped us perform as a unit better than usual."

Dhillon also spoke to how students learn more from other bands by observing performances, comparing it with their own, and talking with students, familiar or new acquaintances, across the extended band family. "I learned a lot from watching Erie," she added. "Changing formations into letters or shapes may seem complicated, but can be done easily through [repetition and cleaning]."

Christopher Thomas, band director at Frederick said, "(Band Night) is a collaboration between schools that are normally rivals in sports, but within the arts world, we work together to create amazing performances and special memories."

The assistant director at Frederick, Nathan Park, said that "the comradery and community between all of the schools" is what makes the annual Band Night event so special. "At no other event do schools get to show off their incredible work with each other (in a non-competitive environment), then perform all together (roughly 1,000 students) at the end of the night." Park added, "There is no one right way to do marching band, and this event is proof of that. Students get to see a variety of philosophies and understand that every single one takes the same hard work and dedication."

Frederick students Ajax Patrick, senior trumpet player, and Karlene Kindvall, ninth-grade color guard member, as well as senior drum majors Mark Rokhlenko and Kennah Brackett of Niwot, felt that these performances were the best they have done yet this season. Students came off the field feeling "confident and powerful" as they heard screaming reactions by hundreds of their biggest fans. They said they also felt motivated after performing in front of other people who know the hours of dedication and discipline required to be in marching band.

Wade Hendricks, Niwot Director of Bands, congratulated trumpet soloist Aidan Coble and Owen Simon (trombone) for having limited practice climbing up their giant popcorn bucket prop and playing their instruments during the show. "They did an amazing job," said Hendricks.

What has made Band Night even more special is the attendance of schools' athletics teams and cheer squads. Niwot band members extended their gratitude to the Niwot cheerleaders for attending the event and supporting the band from the sideline during their performance.

Niwot High School's band will have two more performances, at the Greeley Invitational on Oct. 19, and at the Senior Night football game on Oct. 31.