The Timber Creek Drumline began their indoor season Saturday, Feb. 24, at Klein Oak High School, competing at the Winter Guard International or WGI in Houston and finishing in third place.
Featuring the popular song Sail by Awolnation and many old sea shanties, the drumline’s show this year is entitled “Sail”. The show is said to portray sailors through different scenarios such as catching a stowaway and braving bad weather and storms at sea.
Band director and percussion instructor Chad Mason describes the show as taking the audience to a different place besides the gym.
“[The show] progressed over time to become something different than what we started with once we selected the music and story line of the show,” explained Mason. “It is basically life on a working vessel.”
Students like freshman vibraphone player Ainsley Beers have been watching the drumline perform since their sixth grade years.
“It’s so cool to finally be performing in a Timber Creek indoor show. I’ve been watching the drumline since I was in sixth grade, and to be a part of the program is amazing.”
Throughout the years, the program has grown and progressed from their first year performing, setting goals for their competitions to track their growth through the shows.
“We set goals for every competition that we thought were appropriate for the group this year. After prelims, we didn’t meet our goal of third place,” described Mason.
The group received fourth place with a two-point gap to the original goal.
“The group really had to dig down deep and sell the performance in Finals if they wanted to close the gap.”
They then finished their finals performance with a third place overall score, overcoming adversity in placement and electronic issues.
In every competition, there are a panel of judges that comment on visuals, music, and general effect of the show. These comments are then given to the group in order to help the program progress week to week up until their final show. Comments referencing the “dynamic set” and “beautiful ten out of ten” costumes also build up the players confidence when entering these competitions.
“The show will evolve all the way up to our final performance in Dayton with the comments given to us by professionals all across the country,” said Mason.
During this year’s season, the group will be traveling to WGI world championships in Dayton, Ohio. It will be their first year competing in the World Championships as many people have encouraged them to go.
“Going to WGI Championships is going to be a once and a life time experience for these kids,” said Mason. “They will be competing with the best groups in the world! We have been building for this for the past three years with our other indoor drumline shows and have a great senior and junior class to help lead the way.”
The drumline will be traveling to Dayton from April 17-22, with multiple competitions leading until then.
“At the end of the day we’ve worked hard and had fun doing it,” describes freshman vibraphone player Davi Custodio. “That’s why it is important for us to do amazing at WGI Championships in Dayton, Ohio.”
