Big Blue Machine and Marching Warriors come together to perform

VINCENT, Ohio (WTAP) - The Warren High School band program is combining its halftime band with its competition band this year.

The two groups are putting on a half time show called “The Women of Rock and Roll,” and that’s why the Big Blue Machine is this week’s Band of the Week.

“I just want to have music that our audience recognizes. Music that the students recognize, and can have fun with,” says Warren HS band director, Courtney Clark. “I think that it’s an opportunity that we have to pick a theme and go with that.”

The Warren High School marching band is pumping up crowds with “Women of Rock and Roll,” playing songs like “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.

“I think that it’s really fun and I think that the crowd actually really enjoys it with the kind of idols of the women in rock. Like Adele and Whitney Houston,” says clarinet player, Elanor Wilcox. “They seem to really like the halftime shows and when we play them in parades then I think the band really loves it as well.”

The theme was a pick by band director Courtney Clark, who says he wanted a theme that got band members and crowds excited.

Clark says, “When we used to do our competition show at halftime, admittedly sometimes that music doesn’t relate to our audience. And that was part of the reason why we started to go into two different directions. Have a football and parade band, and then have a competition band.”

The show group has 55 members, some from the Big Blue Machine, which is the football and parades team. And some from the Marching Warriors, which is the competition team.

Clark says the formation of the larger group has members excited to be in both bands next year.

“The Big Blue Machine has been a big asset to our program this year. We already have quite a few members who are excited about marching in the competitive band next year,” says Clark.

You can catch the Warren band playing this Friday, as the Warriors face off against the Dover Crimson Tornadoes at home.

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