By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
"King Kong" may do more for music than he did for motion pictures, at least as far as the Chieftain Marching Band is concerned.
The 102-strong Union High School band, with 18 more members than the 84 in the 2005-06 edition, also seems to possess an oversized heart befitting a gigantic gorilla.
This fall's halftime show is certainly shaping up as something special. And their i not a monkey on their back as the energized musicians close this week's band camp with a 5 p.m. performance today.
More than their instrumental performance, which elicits frequent gushing comments from the third-year director such as "amazing" and "you rock. This is awesome," this band is the most fired-up in recent memory.
They seem to possess the drive to scale the Empire State Building and swat a few airplanes from the sky.
Usually, like even marathon runners, the band hits a wall on Wednesday of band camp.
Not this group.
Usually, rehearsing from morning to night in hot summer sun, it takes some coaxing to fall back in after water breaks.
They bound back into position and eagerly await the director.
He singles out the drum line and color guard to share section of the day recognition (ice cream bars instead of Popsicles during breaks), but sections usually obscured in the brassy outdoor mix, such as clarinets and the "fluties" have developed boisterous personalities that make the enthusiasm contagious.
What's the difference?
Is it the well-regarded freshman class Tom Stansifer left Bartz as a retirement gift?
Strong leadership from the 16 seniors?
A stronger staff, including 2004 and 2005 Sousa winners John and Amy Klapchuk and 2006 graduate Oscar Azevedo from last year's drum line?
Eating lunch together, with parents donating food two days for hot dogs and tacos and Band Boosters feeding them two others?
Or something intangible?
Ask Bartz afterward and he responds, "What's different is I have a mission statement, 'One Band, One Sound, One Goal,' and the kids are really latching onto it.
"The essence of it is the energy level and the happiness. It's something I've been dreaming up all year. 'One Band,' we're staying positive, we're helping each other out. Everybody's a member. Everybody's important. 'One sound,' everybody needs to learn their part because everybody has an important a part as everybody else. The 'One Goal' is to improve ourselves – our abilities, our musicianship every single time we step on the rehearsal field.
"The combination of the strong freshman class and the strong leadership in the senior class and the strong development of the sophomores and juniors … Section leaders worked before the freshman camp, during freshman camp and all this week on how to improve," Bartz said.
All that preparation should pay big dividends down the stretch and will need to because of the challenging, but crowd-pleasing show Dowagiac is developing.
"The drill is a much more intense drill with lots of 'pass-throughs,' " Bartz said. "The music is much harder."
But football fans will be able to hear the difference.
The brooding opening breaks out goosebumps with its brassy buildup.
"That impact point at the 20 (yard line), I was ready to leap off the podium. It's such an effect when the trumpets come out of nowhere and there's this wall of sound up here. It's very cool," Bartz told his musicians gathered at his feet Thursday evening for dismissal.
"I love band!" he bellows.
"Band is fun!" they roar back with an intensity belying the onset of evening and rain, which respectfully waited until they finished to fall.
"The pieces have all fallen into place and we're going to have a great year," Bartz predicts.
"Another piece of the puzzle that's fallen into place this year is the cooperation between athletics and the band. It's been beautiful. We've worked hard at that and we have a lot of cross-over kids between soccer, football and tennis."
The band breaks at 4 today to get cleaned up for the performance.
They will be marching to the field behind ICG and the Northwest Park soccer fields from Union High to a cadence at 4:45.
As has become band camp tradition, a family potluck follows the community preview.