It's game time for the bands

All the color and pageantry of competitive marching bands, filled the stadium Saturday at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect.

One after the next, the high school units thrilled the crowd with their musicianship while executing difficult drill programs.

The 13th annual Knight of Champions Marching Band Competition drew 25 high school bands - twice as many as last year - from throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, while filling the stands with nearly 2,000 fans throughout the afternoon and evening.

Marching units ranged from Streamwood High School, one of the smaller bands on the field, in only its second year of field competition, to such perennial state powerhouses as Lake Park, Lincoln Way East, Hersey and Prospect high schools.

"Our kids are starting to get the hang of what's expected at competitions," said Streamwood High School director, Jaimie Abney. "We're a small band, but our kids really rely on one another and demonstrate great camaraderie on the field."

Many of the larger, more experienced programs, reflected the movement in competitive drum corps, toward using more classical, even original music, rather than traditional show tunes or pop music.

"There's definitely a trend toward more symphonic literature being transcribed for the field," said Dallas Niermeyer, who judged music effect. "Band directors are using much more sophisticated music, to challenge their young musicians."

That trend was evident throughout the competition, beginning with the Class A bands. Grant Community High School from Fox Lake opened their set with an excerpt from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, before moving to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and the dramatic "Firebird Suite."

Round Lake High School, however, stayed with a more traditional approach, performing music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats."

Members of the Prospect Band Boosters mount the competition every year as their major fundraiser. This year the event takes on even more significance, with the band's trip in December to perform with its orchestra and chamber choir, in London.

The Marching Knights performed in exhibition, as the last band of the evening, with their show, "Shall We Dance," which features everything from a tribal, percussive dance in the opening set, to a Russian ballet sequence at the end.

"Everybody's trying to be creative," said Prospect Band Director Chris Barnum, "and put something out there that nobody's seen before."