Lafayette Contest of Champions
September 22nd
In this blast:
- Detailed Schedule for 9/22
- Chaperone Sign-up Information
- What Parents Need to Know About Lafayette
Schedule for September 22nd
- 8:15-8:30 am—Arrive at South, set up field for rehearsal, props, pit, podiums, etc.
- 8:45 am--Morning rehearsal on Varsity field
- 10:45 am--Rehearsal ends, eat lunch. We may or may not wear uniforms to Lafayette. Mr. Barnes will make that call on Saturday morning. Eat something! Drink Water!
- 11:45 pm--Load buses and leave for Lafayette High School
- 12:15 pm--Arrive at Lafayette. Unload buses. Potential physical warm-up? Use the restroom.
- 1:00 pm—Change into uniform if necessary.
- 1:35 pm--Warm-up at Site 1. It is now too late to use the restroom.
- 2:05 pm--Move to field.
- 2:15 pm--Ready at Gate.
- 2:30 pm--Performance.
- 2:30 pm--Together as a band for awards.
- 3:30-3:50 pm--Clinic in Back Gym.
If we do not score high enough to get into finals, we will return to South High, unload the trucks and go home for the evening.
If we DO score high enough to make finals. . .
- 5:30 pm - Finals will begin at 5:30 pm, with warm-up beginning around 5:15. Mr. Barnes will have to draw for a finalist performance time. We will not know anything until we have that time. Students will need to meet at the buses and wait for information.
- 9:10 pm—Awards
- 9:30 pm—Return to the bus, load. Drive back to South
- 10:15 pm—Arrive back at South. Unload buses/trucks. Set room up for Red Day.
Chaperones Still Needed
There is a need for a First Aid person and 3 Chaperones. There are a lot of props that need to be moved and possibly stand behind during the performance. Please sign up here
What Parents Need to Know About Lafayette
Parking: Carpool as much as possible, the parking lot will be crowded. If you park on Clayton Road or Highway 109, you may be ticketed or towed.
Overflow parking is available at Babler Elementary School.
Finals: The top 12 scoring bands will go into finals. The 6 higher scoring bands will draw for the 6 latest spots and the 6 lower scoring bands will draw for the 6 earliest spots. Mr. Barnes or will draw for us.
Escorts: Lafayette Band will have a student escort meet us and guide us through the warm-up to performance process. Although this student is very helpful in keeping us on time, he is not our band director. Please adhere to what Parkway South’s staff are doing.
Warm-up: We get 30 minutes for warm-up in Area #1. We need to help students remember that they cannot perform on their instrument if they are not in warm-up. Mr. Barnes MAY choose to do a visual warm-up when we get there. This is OK.
Clinics: We will get a 20 minute clinic after our performance and the awards announcements. . This will be inside Lafayette High School. Large props and pit equipment will be dropped off somewhere outside the school. After the clinic we will either pick up our equipment and prepare for finals OR pack the trucks and go home. The depends on if we score high enough to make finals. Because we are so close to the end of the day, our clinic will be AFTER the awards announcements. Following our performance, we will stand in the end zone and watch the final performance of the day, wait for Pre-lim awards and then go to our clinic.
Judges/Clinicians:
Judges from this year come to the festival from Missouri State University (so you know he’s good;), Texas, Georgia, the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, Santa Clara Vanguard Drum And Bugle Corps, and US Bands.. It is very possible that the music arranger for our current show COULD be our clinician, Steve Vento from Blue Springs High School.. We may also have Mr. Hamilton-who knows?
We are judged on 6 areas: 1) Music Effect (how does the show make feel as a whole; 2) Music Ensemble Performance (how well does the band perform the music to the show); 3) Music Individual Performance (how well does each student play the show (this is why we yell so much); 4) Visual Effect (how well does the show look--Wow Factor); 5) Visual Ensemble Performance (how well are we setting up the “pictures”--don’t tell Hamilton I called them pictures); and 6) Visual Individual Performance (how well is each student march with proper technique--again , why we yell).
Power Outlet
There will be a power strip provided, but we will only use it if our generator is not working. Using the same power source every time provides us with consistent power and we know how our equipment will react.
Storage and Changing Rooms
Nope--don’t have any. We have to use our buses to change and keep all of our stuff with us there.
Awards:
Trophies will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place bands in each Class. We are in the Gold Class. There are also caption awards for each class: Outstanding Music Performance, Outstanding Visual Performance and Outstanding General Effect (again, the Wow factor). This year it will be very difficult to make finals because we are a small band. Small bands don’t play as loud and have less room for error, I know, its not fair, but life isn’t fair. We just have to be better than everyone else.
In Finals, everyone will receive a placement trophy. The winner of finals will get a “traveling trophy”. This means you have to bring it back next year and give it to next year’s winner.
Food
Lafayette usually has really good food offerings. Please eat at the competition. It is the real fundraiser for their band boosters. We are not allowed to have an open flame or gas grill. Since we have never used one before, I don’t anticipate this being an issue for us.
Wristbands:
The purchase of a wristband is needed for admission to the competition. Adults are $10 and non-participating students are $5. We will get 10 wrist bands and will most likely purchase more for those parents who are official chaperones for the trip (like riding the bus or driving the truck.). According to Lafayette’s information, even parent helpers will need to have their wristbands on when we go into the stadium.
Videotaping:
I am assuming Rick Zoeller will be videotaping the performance. We will get a “professional” video from Lafayette from the top of the press box.
Rain Plan:
On the morning of the contest Lafayette will make the call on rain. We will then relay that information to you. We will NOT keep this information to ourselves. If you have not heard from us via Twitter, Spirit Notes, Facebook, Texting, etc, assume things are continuing as normal. If you do not subscribe to any of these services, let me encourage you to pick one and use it for band. It really is the best way to hear news.
Lafayette spends a lot of money, time and effort to put on this festival. They will make it happen if there is any way possible. I just don’t see it being cancelled-----ever!
Director’s Only Section:
The top 2 rows of bleachers are reserved for band directors. If you find yourself sitting in that section and you see a band director coming up the stairs, please allow him to sit in the section reserved for him. Band Directors are easy to find, they are all wearing a polo of some kind, khakis and an extremely tired expression.
Seating:
Students are to sit on the visitor side of the stadium. The home stands are for those who have paid money to see the festival.
Health and Wellness
Paramedics will be on site for emergencies and a first aid station. There is also a St. Luke’s Urgent Care 10 minutes away (636)-256-8644.
In case of lightning, GET OFF THE ALUMINUM BLEACHERS, go to the Main Gym of the high school. In case of excessive heat, they will make the commons of the high school available. They will also have hoses for you to fill water coolers for our kids.
Building Interior:
The building is off-limits to students except for the above mentioned special cases and the clinics. A PA announcement will be made if the building is needed for special circumstances.
Lafayette is one of our long standing festivals (and the band we are always so close to beating). Please thank the band boosters there for all their hard work. Festivals are a nightmare to put on. Yes, we’ve thought about it and no, we are NOT going to host a festival any time soon. Please don’t ask!
Random fact: Parkway South is the longest continuous band entry for the Lafayette Contest of Champions. This is one of the reasons we continue to attend this festival.