Topeka West marching band reflects on Alamo Bowl experience
TOPEKA (KSNT) - The Topeka West marching band is bringing home several trophies after a successful trip to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.
"The kids walked into the dome and were like 'wow,'" Director of Bands Barry Evans told 27 News. "You know, it's just an awe-inspiring thing. And then, we of course got to play pre-game for the Alamo Bowl, and there were 65-70 thousand people sitting in the audience, and it was just incredible. It's an experience they will never forget."
The team was back in Topeka on Saturday, after an hours-long trip, where they were picked to perform for this year's matchup between the Arizona Wildcats and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Evans says 'community' within the band is what it's all about.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world, I get to work with amazing kids every day, and we're a family," Evans said. "We succeed together, we fail together, but overall, we're a family."
It's special enough for a high school marching band to perform in front of hometown and local fans, but Evans says it's even more special when that audience becomes national.
"We've been practicing our shows since like May of last year and having that big crowd in front of us is different than having just the front half of a stadium filled," bass player Vincent Redmond said. "The whole stadium is filled, and everyone's watching."
In addition to performing at the Alamo Bowl, the band was featured in some other competitions. After all their effort and commitment, the team had something to show for it.
They won all of the below awards for both the Field Show Competition and the Parade Competition:
- Outstanding percussion
- Outstanding color guard/auxiliary
- Outstanding drum major
- Outstanding performance - Marching
- Outstanding performance - Music
- Outstanding performance - General effect
- Outstanding overall field show performance