Bonita Vista High’s (BVH) band, Club Blue, stepped out onto the field with their instruments and props of pillars while BVH’s Color Guard, dressed in Greek clothing, prepared to fly their bright flags over the band. Club Blue has not performed as a whole ensemble since December of 2019. Club Blue’s first competition back from quarantine took place at Rancho Bernardo High on Oct. 9th, where they performed their field show titled Tales of Olympia, which features the Greek myths of Kraken, Medusa and Pegasus. 

After nearly two years of no performances, Club Blue dusted off their uniforms and prepared for the Rancho Bernardo competition through weekly practices after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Prior to the competition, Club Blue’s rehearsals focused on perfecting their performance for their first field show during the half-time show at BVH’s home game on Oct. 1 against Mater Dei Catholic High School.

“Performing at the football game [was a definite highlight],” Drum Major and senior Carter Gailband said. “It was our first performance on the field in uniform, [which] was fun.”

Gailband’s role in Club Blue is to lead rehearsals along their warm-ups and guide members through the performance. However, Club Blue director Mark McCann was the decider behind the music for the performance depicting Greek myths. 

“[Club Blue has] an insane amount of [support from parents] who help [us] at every tournament,” Mccann said. “We’re very fortunate to have a great parent following that works to help move [the props] for the kids and [gets the performance] rolling.”

Despite the past two performances, Club Blue’s field show is only two-thirds completed, according to Mccann, meaning it is expected that their show will be finished in time for future performances. Although a shortened performance, Club Blue members shared the same excitement at the thought of being on the field again.

“[Clue Blue’s] percussion front assemble [performed really well] and [Flute Section Leader] Zoe Zarkos’ flute solo during the second movement [did too],” Clarinet player and freshman Michelle Macgaffey said. “[I felt as if everyone] as a whole did really well and pulled their weight. The whole show should be [considered a highlight].”

The competition was a notable event for Club Blue as it was their first official competition coming back from distance learning. For almost half of the band, freshmen and sophomores, this was their first performance. While the juniors and seniors were satisfied with their first competition of the year, their excitement to participate in future competitions, such as the Mount Carmel Tournament on Oct. 30th, continues to grow.

“One of our [mottos] in [Club Blue] is that every performance has to be better than the last, so from here, it only goes up and [continues to be better each time],” Gailband said. “Hopefully, we can do well enough to get ourselves into Champions.”