Stony-faced eyes masked by the feathery hats known only to few by their real name (shakos), the Marching Redhawks step forward, raise their bells and face the home stands of Memorial Stadium every Friday night of the football season. Yet, football games are just practice. Competitions are what matter.

Practicing Tuesday to Friday for approximately 10 hours a week, the Marching Redhawks perform at all-day competions on Saturdays, or eight hour practices on non-competition days.

The marching band competes all over Illinois, including a recent competition at the Lake Park “Lanier Joust.” They were awarded “Best Auxiliary,” which is an honor to the colorguard, according to senior Jake Pikula.

Every year Central hosts the “NCHS Marching Classic,” which is held at Benedictine University.
Twenty-five bands compete along with a special guest performance this year by the Blu-Gold Marching Band from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. Central’s marching band performs at the very end of the event as an exhibition, held on Oct. 1 this year.

“We are working very hard to get better and better for each game and competition.” said Pikula. “If we don’t have a competition on a Saturday we take a whole day to practice so we can keep working.”

Junior Dan Parker, who plays the marimba in the front ensemble, believes the hardest part of marching band is learning all of the music. He looks forward to competing in the state competition.

“I think we’re pretty good,” Parker said. “I think we’re a good contender for state this year.”

According to Parker, a band the Marching Redhawks respect, though not in their division, is Marion Catholic High School.

Senior mellophone player Matt Byron agrees.

“I think [Marion Catholic students] actually have to do marching band if they’re in a curricular ensemble,” Byron said. “They definitely have a lot more manpower which means they can actually get their sound out, and their drills are a lot easier.They’re very disciplined [and] they get a lot of stuff done and they get it done fast.”

Byron believes discipline, commitment and an upbeat attitude make the show a success. He also finds that focusing on the movements and steps is a big concern.

“Our drill writer writes different tests for each member, [because] if one person misses a coordinate [or step] then the whole picture from up above looks wrong,” Byron said.

According to Byron, the atmosphere in a marching band competition is much different than that of a home football game.

“Halftime at football games, the fans are all noisy and they don’t really watch us,” said Byron. “But [at competitions] the fans really want to watch us. It’s a better feeling for us to know they want to watch us, and we can see the drum major better and we’re not distracted by all of the noise.”

Sophomore colorguard member Ronnie Dekruiff also feels that Friday nights don’t pressure the Marching Redhawks as much as competitions.

“At competitions it’s really serious and you want to do [well], but at football games while you want to look good in front of your peers, there’s really no pressure,” Dekruiff said.

This year’s marching band show is entitled “Chakra.” Chakra is a Hindu concept that refers to “force centers” or energy permeating from a point on the physical body.

“There are seven different chakra levels in the body,” said Pikula. “These seven different chakra levels are shown throughout our show.”

Byron thinks the show’s theme is a good concept.

“I think it’s pretty cool, it really influences the Indian culture,” Byron said. “The music’s really cool, the drill’s really cool, I think it’s a great show.”