How Lancer Joust marching bands 'put on a great show'

Let's take a peek inside the creative mind of Chris Barnum.

He's the marching band director at Prospect High School, and he probably doesn't have a fight song stuck in his head. His musical tastes aren't so obvious.

To find out what influenced his band's latest routine, consider these words by our nation's 26th president:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."

That speech by Teddy Roosevelt became a jumping off point when Barnum and his team of show designers began to produce an elaborate routine for the Prospect Marching Knights.

"The whole concept is sort of about, you want to be that person who does something with your life," Barnum said.

Roosevelt's words also will take on an autobiographical meaning when the 197-member band performs the routine during the Lake Park Lancer Joust competition Saturday, Sept. 10 - as the defending champion.

"It's not easy to do what we do," Barnum said. "It takes a lot of time and effort and repetition and energy, but once you're the man in the arena, you have this great achievement."

It also takes custom-written music for the band, rehearsals since June, five school buses and three box trucks full of equipment and props to come ready to compete at the Joust, held at Lake Park High School's west campus in Roselle.

"All they want to do is put on a great show and entertain you," said Barnum, who played baritone as a Lake Park student.

It's the first competition of the season for his musicians, who have to cater to both the ear and the eye. From the press box and the field, Joust judges don't just score the 14 bands seeking awards. They also record what they like and how students can improve in tapes of their comments for each band.

That's "very valuable, constructive" feedback before the Prospect band goes on to march in a series of contests around the state and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, Barnum said.

"What it's really about is pursuing excellence," Barnum said.

Proceeds from admission to the Joust support the program at Lake Park. It's the first Joust for Mike Lehman, the host school's new director of bands. But he knows it's a "mainstay" for marching bands around the Midwest.

Lake Park isn't competing but will stage an exhibition show called "Cosmic Reflections" at 5:15 p.m. Students will play contemporary works that capture the beauty, the solemnity, "the intensity at times" of outer space, Lehman said.

"That's an exciting time for everybody," Lehman said. "Both the students and the audience get to see our progress."

The audience also gets to see a wide variety of music, drill formations and pageantry. Barnum says his students won't be paying much attention to the trophies at stake.

What matters is transforming into a unified ensemble when they step into this arena.

"It's about your putting in that effort," Barnum said.

If you go

What: 38th annual Lancer Joust marching band competition

When: Opening ceremony starts at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10

Where: Lake Park West Campus, 500 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Roselle

Cost: $12 for adults; $8 for students and seniors; free for ages 4 and younger; $30 for families with up to two adults and two students

Details: Competing marching bands are from Victor J. Andrew in Tinley Park; Batavia; Downers Grove South; Elk Grove; Greendale, Wisconsin; Harry D. Jacobs in Algonquin; Herscher; John Hersey in Arlington Heights; Lemont; Lockport; Naperville Central; Plainfield North; Prospect in Mount Prospect; Wheeling

Info: Sites.google.com/a/lakeparkband.com/joust