TofR Music

The Music Committee will be hosting our "movie night" next week where we will review prospective 2028 Rose Parade Marching Band video submissions and I cannot emphasize how meaningful these videos are to us. They are a band's best opportunity to show what they got and it's so important that your video tells us your story, demonstrate your musicality and marching ability, and give a peek into your field shows.

Sometimes a short video cannot do a band justice and I am reminded of The University of Wyoming "Western Thunder" Marching Band's video, which was great, but no where as impressive as they were in person.

Things are heating up for the 2028 Rose Parade and in a couple weeks, the Music Committee will be hosting our "Movie Night" where we review the prospective band video submissions.

What do we look for when evaluating bands? Sonic fidelity. Marching precision. Showmanship. And in this photo of the PCC Tournament of Roses Honor Band from 2024, you can see the crisp lines, the arm/leg symmetry, the even spacing. We even look at the plume angles on caps and the arm/hand angles when holding instruments.

These are the little things that separate good bands from great bands...and we look at everything.

For the 2027 Rose Parade, I think we have a few first time bands coming and I wanted to share with them that one of the most enjoyable aspects of their visit is performing in Bandfest. This is where they get to perform their field shows in front of an enthusiastic crowd of marching band fans.

As a photographer, this is a great opportunity to showcase their hard work. I am able to feature the qualities that made them memorable to the Music Committee...the crisp lines, the well spaced formations, and the emotions of the musicians.

It's a great event to photograph, but it's even better to see and hear them in person.

Bandfest...be there or be square!



mbandmex

Rose Parade Memories: Dancing in the rain. When I was looking at this image of the IU RedStepper Dance Team, all covered up with their rain coats, it reminded me of one of my White Suiter experiences. It was 2006 and it rained on Parade Day then too. I was wearing one of those plastic rain coats to keep my white suit pristine, but like in the photo, my rain coat left my lower legs uncovered...and all the rain drops ran down my legs into my white suede buck shoes. My feet were drenched and the shoes were ruined. $145 Cole Haan bucks down the drain so to speak. Needless to say, next year I wore some less expensive white tennis shoes.

I wonder if the RedSteppers got their feet wet like I did all those many years ago? Those rain coats just funnel the rain drops to your feet.

Good times!



eagle.escadrille















mbandmex

Our second new Vice Chair is a familiar face for some. Adrineh Poulatian was with us last year on Music and she did such a great job that the Tournament of Roses promoted her to Vice Chair.

As a Vice Chair, Adrineh will supervise the Band Director Events functions (Incoming Band Directors Dinner, the Working Breakfast, and the Band Directors Luncheon), as well as the Parade Day Disbanding operations and Safety/Troubleshooting functions.




mbandmex