The post below was penned by sophomore Mya Riner. She’s thrilled to be working on the Marching with the Virginian blog!
You may be used to seeing the Marching Virginians perform in Lane Stadium or even at the Sochinski-McKee Marching Virginians Center. Sometimes, however, you may be able to catch us performing for high schools all around Virginia!
This year, the Marching Virginians got invited to perform in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley (my beloved home). Our exhibition was at the Shenandoah Valley Marching Invitational, which took place at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, Va. The competition was actually hosted by Rock City Regiment, which features a combined marching band of Harrisonburg’s and Rocktown’s ensembles!
Tone Breakfast
To start the day, which also happened to be my BIRTHDAY, all of my cherished baritone section got breakfast! We met up around 9 a.m. and enjoyed amazing biscuits, pancakes, and cinnamon rolls at the one and only Cracker Barrel! This breakfast with what I would consider my family really made my day amazing.
Our call time to get to the MVC was 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The day did not feature a rehearsal, but rather a quick chat and pep talk from Dr. Polly and Chad. Afterwards, all 330 of us scrambled to load our respective buses. Once the buses were all loaded with instruments, uniforms and MVs, all eight busses conga-lined up I-81 to Harrisonburg.
In the Heart of the Valley
Once we arrived in Harrisonburg, everyone started getting into their uniforms. We then headed over to warm up and do a quick little run-through of our show order.
The Harrisonburg night sky was seriously gorgeous. Photo source: Benjamin Gozzi
We played a couple of our different shows from the season, including parts of our Pregame and Superhero shows performed at the Aflac Kickoff game in Atlanta, Ga. in August. The performance also included our Hamilton show, which we played for our annual MV For a Day celebration earlier this year. We also played “Pinball Wizard,” a tune we featured in our most recent home game performance. Along with those exciting shows, we played a couple of MV favorites, including “What Planet Is This,” “Swag Surfin’,” and of course, “The Hokie Pokie!”
I would be lying if I said this exhibition performance was easy. However, the show was a BLAST! The crowd absolutely loved us, and it showed!
The performance was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done so far with the MVs. As corny as this may sound, I really did spend my birthday with 330 of my best friends doing something that we all love together: Performing. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my big day.
Buc-ee’s and a Quiet Ride Back Home
After we all changed and ate dinner, the Marching Virginians took a little trip to the beloved Buc-ee’s! The band was ECSTATIC when we heard the news about our next stop. As everyone filled the Buc-ee’s, you could see MVs getting shirts or slurpees while recapping the fun day through laughs and smiles. Some sections even got matching outfits - if that doesn’t show how close we all are as MVs, I don’t know what can!
Once we arrived back in beautiful moon-lit Blacksburg, everyone groggily but eagerly helped tidy up and unload the buses. Even though it was a long day for everyone, I would say it was an experience you just can’t pass up as a Marching Virginian. Performing for a crowd as lovely as the high school students at Harrisonburg High School was an opportunity you can only get a couple of times.
Oh, what a privilege it is to be a Marching Virginian.