By chance, I happened to be at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Friday night, and caught the preliminaries performance of the Jenison High School Marching Band, so I took some photos for you.

The band wound up finishing third in the AA Division, their highest finish at Grand Nationals since 2006.

I had never been to a Grand National and was under the impression that it was a straight up performance, the band would come out, play their instruments, maybe move into some formations, and that would be it.

But it's WAY much more than that.

There are costumes, props, storylines, and in the Jenison's band's case, a waterfall.

The band based their performance around the American southwest, and as such, had props that resembled mesas and canyons. It apparently struck a chord with the judges.

Band Director Dave Zamborsky told WOOD-TV 8, “A lot of groups at this very high level of competition have gone to more of a costume concept. Our show this year was called Spirits of the Canyon. It was based on Bryce Canyon and the topography of the American southwest, and the costume that we put the whole band in reflected that.”

“The students knew, based on the scheduling, that we were probably in contention for a top spot but that didn’t detract at all from the elation when they heard their names announced as a medalist at the national level,” Zamborksy said.

Once I found out a West Michigan school was performing, I grabbed my camera and took some photos. I'm not sure what was going on, but it was beautiful! There was even a waterfall!

Jenison High School Marching Band Takes Third At Grand Nationals

"Spirits of the Canyon" was the theme as the Jenison Marching Band Performed At The Grand National Marching Band Competition At Lucas Oil Field In Indianapolis On Friday, November 12.

 

 

 

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