Wow! I cannot believe the first 2/3 of our season has already come and went! The students have worked hard throughout our camp, and training season to be prepared for the next two months of experiences! The competition season will FLY by, so on your mark, get set, LET’S GO!!

I have decided to send this FCMBE (Fulton County Marching Band Exhibition) email separately so that I can give a few more details about our first off campus performance.

We will be structuring this Saturday to be as close to a competition day as possible and will utilize this as our “dry run” competition day. For the parents who are new to this experience. The Fulton County Marching Band Exhibition, AKA FCMBE, is a pre-season showcase that each high school band program in Fulton County participates in. This is a NON-scored event, however, we do have judges whoo will be making comments and giving their critique to the students and staff as a way to help us prepare for the competition season. Many times, this will be the ONLY time that our students will get a chance to see all 17 high school programs in FulCo perform, so this is a very special event and will be the first time our show is performed for a “marching band crowd”. (If you have never been to a competition before you will notice the difference this weekend!)

With that being said, we NEED for our parents/friends/fans to be in attendance and to get ROWDY for the Cambridge Band (I meaning obnoxiously so). This crowd reaction goes a very, very long way in the activity and provides a different level of general effect to the experience of our performances. Grab those cowbells, make those signs, create different shticks that you think could work with our show (for example a group of parents I had previously bought everyone American flags to wave when we were coming on the field because our show was America themed, and one father dressed up like Uncle Sam - maybe that was a little much, but the band was the talk of the town because of the support system we brought with us). When we as a program speak On Brand - these details MATTER, so I’ll ask you the same question I ask the students, “WHAT’S OUR VIBE?!” (The answer?: FULL OUT)

Needs for this Saturday:

-Separate rehearsal wear/show wear:

-In the past students have worn what they are going to wear to the show at our morning rehearsals. For hygiene purposes, we should have two sets of clothing for these separate experiences. Students will be wearing their black bottoms, blue show shirts, and Cambridge Band jacket for the “walk around” at the show site.

-Packed/Planned Lunch:

-Students will NOT be permitted to leave campus for lunch, so we need to be sure to plan accordingly

-EPL:

-Stands for Eat, pack, load. During this time students will pack equipment, eat lunch, and get ready for the show. We will need parents help with loading equipment and props. This will be our first EPL and it is always a fun process to remember how we pack the truck, etc.

-All items needed for Competition Uniforms:

-Hair products, marching shoes, long black socks, gloves, etc.

-$$$ Money for concession stand

-Blue Jug:

-Hydrate, or Dydrate

-Cambridge Band Jacket:

-We’ll be wearing this following the performance.

Itinerary:

The itinerary for this weekend is attached. We will be giving updates on timing of the show, etc through the REMIND 101 app. If you have not signed up for this instant communication tool, please do so prior to Saturday:

~Marching Band freshmen students and parents: Text @cambfr to the number 81010

~Marching Band sophomore students and parents: Text @cambso to the number 81010

~Marching Band junior students and parents: Text @cambju to the number 81010

~Marching Band senior students and parents: Text @cambse to the number 81010

*Please see that there are certain aspects of the itinerary that are in YELLOW. This area of the itinerary is known as “GAME ON” mode. At this point, the students will be in performance mode. As a staff, we ask that we do all that we can to ensure the students stay in this “Game On” mode from start to finish of this portion of the schedule. We understand the excitement of the day and wanting to take photographs, etc. however, we believe that focus drives the effort, and effort will drive the performance. If there is a need for photographs, etc, please do it discreetly. (We also have band photographers who will be taking photos throughout the day, and they do an AMAZING job capturing the memories of our students) We thank you for helping us out with this important part of the experience!

I am looking forward to the day! Let me know if you have questions!

Best,

DMS