LHS To Lead Macy's Parade

Posted November 13
In less than two weeks the Lincoln Patriot Marching Band will lead all participants in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This will be the Patriot's third trip to New York City for the event (and the second time LHS has led off the parade), and the 285 proud marchers are excited for the trip. The parade can be seen live on NBC on Thanksgiving Day, November 27th. While the band is first down the street, they are by no means first in the telecast. Nearly the first hour of the telecast is devoted to performers not marching but performing in front of Macy's. The band has 75 seconds to march into camera view, perfom their song, and get out of view. You can check out the official Macy's Parade website by clicking here The Sioux Falls Argus Leader published an article on November 13 detailing some on the trip.
Click here for the link to that article.

"Sounds" Like A Great Season

Posted October 31
The "Spellbound" competitive season is complete, and of course the trip to New York looms. If you saw the show, you know the primary melody this fall was the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black". So it seems when looking back at the season we should set the highlights (and lowlights) of the Roadies to music ... sort of a soundtrack to the year. So consider this review of the season as a mix cd, or a playlist off the Roadie Ipod. The songs for this year would include:
Light My Fire (The Doors): The Roadies annual cookout at Marshall moved into a new era with TWO grills for food prep and Jeff Goddard's Shrimp Fire Kabobs far surpassing chips and dip on the menu
Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen): Ah, the timed event at Des Moines, where the Roadies get to hustle on and off the field ... of course beating the drumline again
Listen To What The Man Said (Paul McCartney & Wings): We can't print what was actually said in Vermillion (*&#!*), but it was colorful, first when Jeff discovered the hitch ball missing on the atv, and then moments later when the tongue of the ladder trailer slammed down on Tom Reed's hand.
The Long And Winding Road (the Beatles): That would be the path the pit had to take at Irondale ... long enough the band had a police escort this year.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (movie soundtrack): Chitty Chitty is the sound of the air compressor topping off pit equipment tires at Des Moines. Bang Bang of course were the two PA cart tires that exploded barely 10 minutes apart.
Bus Stop (the Hollies): Sunset bus stops at rest stop, but bus no go no mo. Spare bus and driver from SBI make the spontaneous trip to Valleyfest.
Night and Day (Cole Porter): The trip to Irondale and the return trip home through the night wore out everyone involved, especially the IronRoadies that piloted vehicles home immediately after the show ... and then unloaded the band at LHS.
Hurts So Good (John Couger): Well, it really probably didn't when Dean Versteeg's foot was run over by a trailer at Irondale. Or when Tom Reed was stung by a bee at Vermillion. Or pit kid Hailey whose hand was smashed between two marimba just before taking the field at Festival of Bands.
Runnin' On Empty (Jackson Browne): That's what we were doing with one ATV. There was barely enough gas to cover the bottom of the fuel tank at FOB before Jay Hardy sped off to fill 'er up.
Who'll Stop The Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival): That morning rehearsal at USF was held in the rain, but fortunately the showers moved on and the band did shows at USF's halftime and at Presidents' Bowl that evening.
Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis): Or maybe it should be "sparks of fire" as Jim & Tim welded the broken tymp handles in the PARKING LOT at Irondale.
Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder): The new Acme BFL Drum Major platform certainly put the DMs on higher ground and it took two Roadies to move it to the field (and knock branches out of trees) and three to put it on the trailer.
Bloody Well Right (Supertramp): Sort of a tradition of the Roadies, to test how many layers of skin are on one's knuckles prior to bleeding. Rookie Roadie Brad Roades discovered whatever it is, it was not enough
We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You (Queen): Sweepstakes winners at last, the Lincoln Band beats all competitors at Quad States in Vermillion.
New York, New York (Frank Sinatra). This one's a no-brainer what with that little parade coming up. But it sure seemed to fit!

Hope You Enjoyed The Pictures!

Posted October 31
This season we had the opportunity on the Roadie website to capture the flavor of nearly every performance of the band thanks to contributions from our own "PhotogRoadies". Sha Langenfeld, Jon Sogn, Eric Knutson and Neil Krohse shot gigabites of photos, of which we posted nearly 1400 pictures to the website photo pages.

We hope you had the chance to check these pictures out, as we caught many of the band members in action.

These photos can be downloaded free - simply by clicking the "all sizes" tab above each photo, and the clicking the "download" tab for the photo. Thanks also to Jeff Goddard and Lisa Asmus for adding to our collection

Lincoln Wins Sweepstakes At Quad States!


Posted October 18
The Lincoln Patriot Marching Band rolled into Vermillion on Saturday October 18 with the look of a champion, delivered a performance worthy of one, and returned home champions of Quad States. The chilly morning load-up at Lincoln changed to a sunny afternoon unload at USD as the Pats readied themselves to take on all comers. Along with the championship trophy the band came home with 4A caption awards for drum majors, drum line, horn line and the guard.

The best performance of the season came in one of the hardest venues to conquer - the echo chamber called the DakotaDome. And if fans in the stands thought they saw a great show - they should have been down in "the bunker" with the Roadies, where you can actually feel the sound.
As a special bonus, fans around the buses after the show were treated to a victory horn arc, where Mr. Carlson directed a drumline-less rendition of America South.

Jon Sogn had a unique view of the show - from the rafters above the lights in the DakotaDome in Vermillion on October 18th. Jon's pictures have been added to the Quad States set. See the show as the Carlson's plan it out by going to the Quad States photo set. Thanks Jon!!!

As always for the Roadies, Vermillion provides some of the best fodder for stories. Notable in the load-up was the last instrument to the truck, a drumline member we know and love, who also needed a littttle extra time to get to the school. In Vermillion, once we all figured out how to get around the road construction to the parking lot things went pretty well. For the second time this season, Roadie Dean V turned over the key to the ATV to former Head Roadie Neil. Last time at Festival of Bands, that included a nearly-empty gas tank. This time, that ol' prankster left the hitch ball off the ATV, so when we got ready to head to the stadium, we had no way to attach the trailer. But the ever so resourceful Roadies made due with a socket and extension, which miraculously only came apart twice.

The Roadies this week seemed to shed little blood, but the "black and blue" award will go to Tom Reed who had his hand smashed between the trailer tongue and the temporary hitch ... and then was stung by a bee when we loaded up.

Of course the band performed on Friday night at the halftime of the Lincoln shellacking of RC Stevens (56-7). The chilliest show of the season went well, though the band was struggling to get focused. Many members came to the show missing uniform parts, which kept the chaperones busy, and the "pitsters", as Mr Carlson called them, didn't start getting their uniforms on until 4 minutes before halftime.

Top 10 Things Learned Being A Roadie

Posted October 19
The competition season is over and all that's left are the indoor concerts and that little parade in New York City. Roadies that were rookies are now veterans, and the veterans are just older, grayer and more scarred up. Volunteering for any bandparent committee is good, but here's the Top 10 Things We've Learned by being Roadies:

10. Loading instruments always beats doing yard work.
9. Turns out Pit Kids will gladly tell you where to put a bass drum!
8. Advil. Enough said.
7. Unstable ladders make our Drum Majors really testy.
6. You can fit a kid inside a tenor drum case.
5. "Prop" really IS a four-letter word.
4. The pit equipment alone weighs over 3 TONS (see number 8).
3. Knuckles bleed.
2. Roadies can beat the drumline off the field EVERY TIME!
1. You really can fix anything with duct tape!

Lincoln Takes Runner-up Spot at Valleyfest


Posted October 12
The Lincoln Patriot Marching Band hit the road for their longest competition trip of the season and came home with runners-up honors at Valleyfest in Des Moines. The band wowed the crowd but not the judges enough, as they fell short to Irondale High School of New Brighton, MN. The Colorguard and drumline brought home caption awards at the event.

The day will certainly go down as one in the "spellbound" theme, and there was definately something in the air, which may explain why the Roadies encountered not one, not two but THREE flat tires on the weekend. Flats one and two occured within 10 minutes of each other - and on the same piece of equipment. While the pit was warming up, a tire blew on the PA cart. While we are trying to figure out what actually made the noise, Craig is trying to figure out how to work it into the show. Turns out a couple of the veteran Roadies were just having a little fun with Taylor (kid who runs the PA cart) with a little game called, "let's over-inflate the tires." Shortly after another exploded while the cart was sitting still! The final tire issue came on the uniform trailer, where the Roadies ended up changing a tire in the mall parking lot Sunday morning.

The challenges for the band began before they even left the parking lot. Problem #1: Sunset bus #8 is broken down on some interstate somewhere Saturday morning and clearly will not arrive at LHS in time for an 8:30 departure. So SBI gets a school bus (not a motor coach) to take the kids down to the scheduled rest stop (Onawa), where the plan is that Sunset will have another bus arrive, swap out the kids, and the SBI bus can head back home. Well Sunset bus #8 does arrive, and we swap kids, however....

Problem #2: Sunset bus #6 overheats and pulls into the rest area just south of Sioux City. Bus #7 waits with it. They figure something out and get it going and pull in to the Onawa rest stop about an hour after we get there. They say it's fixed a ready to go, BUT black smoke starts belching out the back end. Mr. C says enough; that bus is staying here; get the kids on the SBI #8 and let's get going.

All the while this is going on, kids moving buses, buses not moving, the chaperones are in true form and running around trying to figure out what to do. But the Roadies, never ones to miss an entertainment opportunity, kept themselves busy by making bets on whether or not some of the chaperones would be allowed back on to the 'no nut' buses. (insert rim shot here).

At the show the Roadies worked with their smallest crew of the year, which included a former junior Roadie-turned bandmember-turned Roadie. We survived the timed event by AGAIN beating the drumline off the field (4-0 in times events since 2003). We avoided the "cones of death" that marked the performance boundries and managed to provide the bulk of the horsepower required to get the pit the 4 blocks UPHILL all the way back to the buses. And we contained our exasperation when we found Pete Hansen's car blocking the pit trailer tailgate after the show.

DVD Recorded at HWF


Posted October 10
The Lincoln Band has completed their annual DVD recording night at Howard Wood Field. An annual tradition dating back to video tape, MES Productions recorded the DVD on Tuesday October 7th. Jay Hardy and Rich Murphy took two and a half run-throughs worth of video, and now will begin the task of hours and hours of editing to produce the final show. Though traditionally completed by the Indoor Concert series, this fall the DVD will be distributed after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. DVD's are $25.00 each and can be ordered by sending a check to Chuck and Cindy Stanga: 3100 S. 6th Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57105.

Oh The Fun We've Had In October

Posted October 12
The marching season hits its climax in the third week of October - often punctuated by the annual trip to the DakotaDome in Vermillion Here's a look back at some of the things we've encountered as Roadies during the third week of October

2000 Brandon Our only trip to the Big Sioux Review was highlighted by the Roadies having to squeeze our equipment into a tiny parking area and we nearly couldn't get our pre-historic atv know as the Cushman between all the vehicles in time to get staged.
2001 Vermillion then Brookings The band had the use of the practice field in Vermillion prior to the show. The field is pocked with gopher holes, and band parents are posted at them to prevent injuries. At least two parents are whacked by flag poles during the practice. And Roosevelt tried to delay getting to Brookings so they could perform after LHS so the band slowed way down on I-29 and parked the buses on a side street until they knew RHS was at the Brookings site.
2002 Brookings then Vermillion The Brookings competition was held in the morning that year it was chilly and the 50 people in the stands were all from LHS. The band headed south quickly to Vermillion where the fabric "scrims" needed repair and one poor trombone was tripped up as they were taken hastily from the field.
2003 Vermillion The final show of the spectacular Zorro season. It was nearly 80 degrees in the Dome and construction was underway on the roof as the bands performed. So the kids roasted and contractors noise on the roof was unbelievable.
2004 Omaha - One sick pit kid made an exit just moments prior to the show and the band performed on easily the nastiest field in years and it was a timed event where the Roadies beat the drumline off the field for the second straight week.
2005 Vermillion After completing everything and packing up, one Roadie has to have their vehicle jump started to leave the USD parking lot.
2006 Madison - With a performance time temp of 35 degrees and a breeze out of the north over 10 mph, the sound was not on par with other performances that season. The brass instruments sounded flat that evening, and complaints of frozen fingers from the pit players were common.
The Roadies had one of their more challenging evenings ... stalled an atv leaving the practice site marimbas coming unhooked during the 8-block trek to the stadium, as well as falling gourdos, triangles, and a crotale bar. Then, we jumped the gun taking the ladders on the field when we thought O'Gorman was done (turns out they were not), and on the return trip a tie down strap on our flatbed snapped leaving a trail of sparks down I-29 for miles. And we even got to help by carrying around an ill tuba player, one of two that were taken ill prior to the show (they ate at the same fast food place we hear).
2007 Vermillion : After a delay getting the buses together on I-229 (and a quick attachment of the trailer lights on bus 1) the trip went smoothly to Vermillion, and was punctuated by a white bus flattening a sign in the parking lot. It was a gorgeous fall day on campus, despite the band and volunteers nearly eaten alive by the Asian beetles and little black gnats during warm ups. The height of the Dome doors forced the power pole props to be assembled outside and tipped slightly to be brought in. However, two poles collided and one top piece had to be repaired Yankton performed. The top piece was taped and reattached just prior to taking the field. We were a little rough on junior Roadies Dan K's foot run over by the flatbed on the way out, and another's leg run into in the endzone. When all was said and done at Lincoln, everything was unloaded and the parking lot was nearly empty there sat 2 mellaphones (or baritone), 2 bass drums and 2 snares and the majority of the practice stands for the drum line. Enough said.

Festival of Bands Weekend Is A Hit With The Fans


Posted October 5
Festival of Bands weekend comes at a great time in the marching season. The season's midpoint weekend treats many different fans, and the band only travels across town for performances.

This week's halftime show was the annual Senior Night tribute, where parents of senior band members get to take the field for the band's warm up. The parents must have inspired the kids, as the band turned in what Director Bob Carlson called "our best show of the season so far". At his post-game press conference (okay, so it was Bob and Neil chatting under the grandstand) Mr. Carlson said the directors were waiting for all the pieces of the show to click, and they were starting to. He said they are really looking to put on the show the next two weeks after what he'd seen that night.

Saturday morning the band headed down town for the Festival of Bands parade, where co-host LHS was the final band down the parade route. Stepping off just before noon the band marched the complete route, before returning to 10th and Main where they practiced and filmed their 75 second Macy's Thanksgiving Day show.

And of course the evening was highlighted by the LHS exhibition performance of Spellbound, held in the wind tunnel we call Howard Wood Field.

For the Roadies, FOB was like "homecoming", as 6 "retired" roadies helped move the band on and off the field. With over 40 years of Roadie Oldie experience, the crowd was treated to their expertise, which included nearly tipping the giant drum major platform over into the front row of the pit.

But the rookies were not left out of the picture. Jeff had Rookie Bob Visser pull a platform behind the band to the midpoint of the parade for the filming of the Macy's music ... only to set up 50 feet from where Jeff parked the truck. GOTCHA!!! And 1st event rookie Brad Rhoades completed his bloody-knuckle initiation before taking the field.

Among the other highlights of the weekend ... We might have left a platform unlatched Friday night and that made it a bit exciting for the parents on one of the platforms as it sloooowly tipped toward the field ... pit kid Hailey had her hand smashed between two marimbi (marimbas?) in a chain reaction collision behind the locker room ... Jay Hardy saved the band from impact by removing the hand rails to the BFL just as the band trooped the stands ... Dean Versteeg invited Neil to pilot an atv - a move possibly motivated by the nearly empty fuel tank (which was discovered just before we staged at the stadium) ... Jim (the Toolman) Fitzgerald permanently attached our flatbed license plates in the parking lot ... if you wondered: yes, Neil and Robert were racing around the track on Saturday night ... at the FOB post-performance analysis meeting (at Stubbies Bar) two familiar looking but un-named bandparents bought a round for the Roadies in attendance!

Past Roadie Adventures in Early October

Posted October 5
One Time at Band Camp Well, this story isn't like that. But many things have happened on our road trips. The second weekend in October has provided the Roadies and the band with some of their greatest adventures, outstanding performances, and agonizing results. Here's some of the more memorable events that happened this week in Roadie History:

2000 Brookings & Madison doubleheader. After arriving in Brookings, several Roadies had to fan out in town to find cord that could be used to re-string a marimba. That evening in Madison, we got a flatbed trailer filled with pit equipment wedged in the entry gate to the DSU field. Once we freed it, we had to make a ¾ mile detour to the back entrance.
2001 Eden Prairie, MN It was COLD the coldest night ever for a band competition. Cold when we got there cold for the show. The band stayed outside for over 2 hours prior to the show and the kids were frozen. And so were the Roadies.
2002 Eden Prairie, MN A borrowed flatbed trailer was a little larger that we figured, and we only made it through the exit gate with 1" to spare! And the band had 4 "scrims" as part of the show, and the fabric on one had to be hand stitched in the parking lot until show-time.
2003 Des Moines, IA. Our initial trip to Valley Fest. After touring the site, Head Roadie Neil still got the pit lost by leading them into a dead end on the way to warm up. And we got the shark cage stuck in tree branches on the way to the stadium. But the performance was one of the BEST EVER, falling short to Irondale who performed almost 4 hours after Lincoln. On the trip home Roadie Dean Versteeg was pulling a flatbed trailer when one of our drum major platforms opened up and jumped off the trailer on I-80 west of Des Moines!
2004 "Super Saturday". The band traveled to Vermillion for Quad State and then to Des Moines for Valley Fest. It was a nice morning for loading, and when we were all set to roll we got nowhere. Bus 2 fried a light relay on our pit trailer, and we had to unplug the trailer lights for the bus to move. Thankfully we had Jay Hardy to re-wire the relay box in the parking lot at USD in order for the band to head to Des Moines (with lights, anyway). At USD the discovery that the color guard had missed loading their prop scrolls on our flatbed led to the mad dash for 2 Roadies on an ATV back across the USD campus to the pit trailer, and equally mad return trip. The exhilaration of success was short-lived as they then raced back to the trailer for the yard markers because USD failed to provide on the back field. And LHS scored lower than Roosevelt for the first time ever. The final excitement came when an atv-towed flatbed of ours got caught between the concrete bases of the flag poles out front of the Dome (history repeating itself?). Finally at Des Moines, there was the special bounce in the drum majors during the show because Neil failed to properly lock down the right side of the 50-yard line ladder platform. We knew it was not going fall apart, but the drum majors did not. But LHS took Sweepstakes in Des Moines!
2005 - Des Moines, IA Saturday morning we loaded up after the rehearsal and made it no further than the construction in front of LHS where bus 1 and the pit trailer made a wrong turn in the parking lot and nearly jackknifed the trailer trying to get out. Not an inauspicious start. Once underway, the buses spread out on I-29 as 5 & 6 could barely muster 65 mph. They didn't end up back together until they pulled into the Sheraton parking lot in Des Moines.
Roadies learned not to get between the band and the Papa John's car when someone yells "PIZZA IS HERE!" Valleyfest is a timed event and the drum line lost to us, a bunch of mostly 40+ Roadies by a wide margin getting off the field. Roadie Judy Olson, who was doing color guard duty Saturday, ran 80 yards (definitely not in running shoes) after retrieving a forgotten flag, and still beat the drum line by nearly 8 seconds, and they had less than half the distance to go
2006 Vermillion A fairly uneventful unload and leisurely trip to the field resulted in us following Roosevelt in line outside, where we had to wait at the west end of the east-bound dragons RHS had for props. We've had bad views before, but the tail end of the dragons set a new low.
2007 Orange City, IA Just when the fireworks started (which coincided nicely with the heeaviest rain), Head Roadie Jeff was lying on the roof of the pit trailer trying to fix the roof vent as the wind had torn it away from the latching mechanism, a task performed half standing on the drum majors ladder, which was in turn standing on a wet slippery picnic table. Back at LHS, we unloaded the horns during a 'dry' spell, thinking the buses weren't too far behind. The buses ended up being farther behind than we thought and the dry spell didn't last quite long enough. So we rolled out a 30x50' tarp and 6 of us Roadies stood in the wind and drizzle holding it over the horns and drums. Did I mention wind? It was at this time that the wind decided to add to the enjoyment; a gust would arrive and announce itself by sending a wave from one end of the tarp to the other. Did I mention rain? When the 'wave' got to the end of the tarp and 'snapped,' it would send a fairly sizable spray of water into the face of whichever Roadie happened to be at that end of the tarp. and the swirling wind made sure we all got our turns. But even so, the spirits of these Roadies weren't dampened as we kept ourselves occupied by laughing and joking at our predicament.

Different Venue - Same Result: Rosemount Bests Lincoln

Posted September 28th
Saturday was a very long day for the Patriot marching band, one that began after 8:00 a.m. with sectionals and ended well after 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning. In between they worked through a solid morning rehearsal and endured long bus rides. But despite a great effort by the kids in blue, LHS fell (literally in one instance) short in the evening competition at the Music of the Knight.
The band entertained us with another great performance, but we just missed a few things that the judges didn't like. (click here for scores or here for complete results). And whether it impacted the score or not, the 3-marcher collision was hard to miss in the show. A judge even picked up a plume and mouthpiece from the crash site and placed them on our tymp cart.
For the Roadies, a long road -trip always make for good stories, and this one was no different. Among the "highlights" from our point of view:
* We decided that Dean Versteeg looked a bit too healthy and was showing us up, so a couple of us decided to run him over with a trailer. The results of our success would need to be determined by radiology, but we rolled his foot pretty good and Dean later confessed
that a couple of interesting words may have floated thru his mind shortly after the event.
* This may be a first at a competition,...Jim and Tim had their welder and generator in the back of the truck and performed some last minute surgery on a broken tymp cart handle.
* Reason #32 why we throw everything back into the trailers and lock them up during a performance in the Cities: Some members of one section had brought some type of beverages that were in glass bottles. Needless to say, when we returned from the performance, some members of the neighborhood welcoming committee had smashed them all over the parking lot. So we got some practice in for sweeping up glass without a broom (no injuries reported on that one). New Rule: No glass bottles?
* Yet another pair of pants with gum on them. That's 3 so far this year. New Rule: No Gum?
We had three people taking pictures at Irondale, and as the pictures are received, they will be posted on the website. Please keep checking back from time to time

Roadies Look Back at Festival of Bands

Posted September 28
Here's a look back at some of the things we've encountered as Roadies during Festival of Bands weekend in the last few years
2001: It was COLD as in many layers of clothing cold. For the parade the wind blew too, but that died down during the evening. But is still never got to 40 that day.
2002: After the evening show (one of the 1st bands to perform) we were packed up and ready to leave but couldn't get out of the parking lot with our trailers when Stampede hockey fans double-parked on the road in and didn't leave enough room for us to get out.
2003: Having two atv's and plenty of time on our hands, a couple of Roadies spent the evening helping pull other bands pit equipment in and out of the stadium.
2004: We invented the Roadie Relay. Here's how it worked. A Snare Drummer fails to get his drum from the start of the truck at the start of the parade. Half way through the parade one Roadie runs up to the head Roadie looking for the drum, which is on the truck now parked at the end of the parade. The Head Roadie runs to the end of the parade, gets the drum, runs it back to the first Roadie, who then runs up the parade route only to find the band already marching at the judges' stand. The kid marches without his drum.
2005: In addition to the parade and the evening performance, LHS performed at the Augie football halftime. After the halftime performance, at the end of the show, we found ourselves surrounded by football players harassing Roadies & color guard to get out of the way when halftime ran long due to Augie homecoming festivities. The evening pit warm-up was highlighted by Craig Spangler having them warm up across the street from Buffalo Wild Wings. Roadies, with two hours to kill, outside a bar ... hmmm ...
2006: The band braved unseasonable warmth and high winds on that day. LHS began the day as the next to last band down the Dakota Avenue parade route. That was a new venue that fall, as the traditional Main Avenue parade route was moved due to road construction. The crowd was smaller than usual without the usual combination of Viking Days and FOB. But 29 bands marched the parade, and it still took over two hours to complete.

Festival of Bands is Saturday

Posted September 28th
The Lincoln Patriot Marching Band will participate in the 21st annual Festival of Bands in Sioux Falls. The four locals bands will again act as hosts for the event, which includes 41 parade bands and 29 entered in the field preliminaries. The four local high schools are co-hosts for the event and will march in the parade in the morning, and perform exhibition shows in the evening. Lincoln is slated to be last in the parade, which is held in conjunction with Augustana College's Viking Days homecoming event. At the evening finals event, Lincoln is scheduled to perform at 6:45 p.m., following exhibitions by a selected A and a AA band. For a listing of the marching order of the parade, and evening exhibitions, please visit the Festival of Band feature page at www.marching.com

Lincoln Sign Gets Custom Cover

Posted September 28
A wish-list project of Roadie Chiefs has become reality thanks to longtime Roadie and sewmaster Judy Olson. Our 2-piece LINCOLN sign that leads the band at parades now has a protective cover (pictured at right) thanks to Judy. The sign has traveled to Macy's in November 2000 and to the Tournament of Roses in January 2005, and the Roadies have always had to try to find something to cover it with while it rides in the uniform trailer. Now - it has custom-made protection. Thanks Judy!!

September Competitions Are Always Exciting For Roadies!

Posted September 25
The last week of September has always made for an interesting weekend of competition. We've traveled near (Luverne, MN) and far (Blue Springs, MO). And it has NEVER been dull. Here's a look back at some of the things we've encountered as Roadies on that last weekend in September in the last few years

2000: Luverne: It was an 80-degree day that featured some of the NASTIEST little biting black bugs. And the wind had no effect on them.

2001: Luverne: For the parade that year the 3 pit kids that carried marching bells for the parade forgot theirs in Sioux Falls.
2002: Irondale. It rained in Sioux Falls at the load-up, and it was raining when we got there. The field was so sloppy LHS people helped them spread straw on the field. When we took the field for the show, a cross brace on the big drum major stand broke two Roadies had to sit during the show at the base of the ladder, looking into the pit below key level. Not a good sight line.

2003: Luverne. We needed 2 buses to tow big trailers, only 1 showed up with a hitch. We towed the uniform trailer with the white truck. In Luverne we discovered the hitch on the back of the bus had nearly broken off. A different bus pulled the trailer home that night, and that hitch cracked too!! And Craig had the pit warm up about 3/4 of a mile away down a gravel road

2004: Sioux City. The hills were alive with the sound of our music (and whining) as we had to first tow the pit up and downs hills 6 blocks to warm up before the preliminary, and then even farther up and down a different set of hills after supper to warm up prior to the evening performance. One Roadie did a complete flip on the backside of the field while trotting to place the ladders during the preliminary performance.

2005: Irondale. A cross-country runner showed up without her uniform, reducing her to temporary Roadie duty when no spare uniforms were placed on the trailer.An ATV wouldn't start as we attempted to take the field, prompting a quick unhitching of everything. At the end of the show, a trailer became detached from the other ATV scaring the daylights out of the cross-country-girl passenger. And it started raining just after we loaded everything up. And then POURED the ENTIRE WAY from New Brighton MN to Sioux Falls.

2006: Coon Rapids/Irondale double header: Nice day but LONG. Two Roadies ran back the length of the field to retrieve yard markers in Coon Rapids and a Yahoo map showing an exit to New Brighton that didn't exist certainly added to the excitement.

2007: Blue Springs: Kid issues prevailed more than equipment this trip: a missing rifle, gashed pit kid and difficulty finding tubas highlighted the longest of our late September trips.

With that in mind what will happen this year?? Stay tuned!!

Lincoln Second At Marshall


Posted September 21
Competing at near perfect conditions in Southwest Minnestota State's new stadium the Lincoln Band kicked off the 2008 competition season with a 85.25 Ivory Class win and second place overall finish, bested only by Minnesota marching power Rosemount's 86.33. (You can see the success that Rosemount has had by visiting their website). With the temp near 60 and NO WIND IN MARSHALL (who would believe that?) the band turned in easily their best show of the season. Lincoln won captions in Battery Percussion and general effect. Click here to see the results.
The day was certainly an eventful kickoff to the season Roadie- wise. Our new drum major platform, the Acme BFL, traveled to Marshall sans guard rails. We're grateful for Allison Schlup and beau for tracking them down at HWF and driving them to Marshall.
As always - the Roadie cookout was a big hit - this year it was a two-grill event courtesy of Tom Reed and Tim Dykstra. The 7th annual event has grown beyond chips and hot dogs, with some bragging rights for most exotic dish going to Jeff Goddard's hot fire shrimp cabobs.
But the Roadies aren't just about food - they are all about getting things done. A big "thumbs up" to Tim D: we needed electrical power for the pit rehearsal and he had his generator along. We've come a long way since batteries, baby.
Of course, not all went right (see platform tale above). There were no yard markers... so when we were staged, we went down the line and handed each Roadie a yard marker and a weight (o.k. it's Marshall, so you never know when wind will suddenly make an appearance).
And while we love our kids, their excitement to leave overrides their ability to account for some of their own possessions, and this week was no different. Of course, it goes without saying that we had stuff laying around everywhere when we got done: a cell phone in the truck, stands, instruments, uniforms, flag bag, ... all laying in the parking lot. Oh, along with the hat and plume of a regular contributor to Roadie lore. But, given the afore mentioned BFL guard rails we left at HWF, this week they are "un-named".
Click here for Jon Sogn's and Sha Langenfeld's pictures from Marshall. (Thanks, Sha & Jon!!) And please note: many photos have been added to the President's Bowl and USF performance, as well as several others. Over 800 pictures are posted on line to date for the Spellbound Season! - and they can be downloaded FREE!!

Homecoming Celebrated with Good Show - Great Game




Posted September 21st
Fans of Lincoln High were treated to the band's final pre-competition performance at halftime of the LHS Homecoming game on September 19th. The band gave a decent show given it was a daylight performance, and the football team woke up after a slow start to pound the Scoopers of Sturgis 49-0. The directors were hoping for a crisp performance before the band headed off to Marshall the following day, and while there was room for improvement, it was still a good performance.
The Roadies kept themselves entertained by designing a new percussion accessory tray that Tom Reed left to build, and discovered a cable off pulley in the old pit trailer.
For those not paying attention to the Roadies during the show, be sure to look carefully at pictures from homecoming - a power pole from the "Wired" show appears in one of the shots. Be sure to look at the picures by clicking here - and look carefully!!!

Thanks To Our Trailer Towing Crew

Posted September 14
Band fans are sure to notice that everytime the band practices or performs, the Lincoln Band trailers are there - before the band arrives and after they depart. Thanks to our volunteers that pull these trailers across town and around the region to competitions: Dean Versteeg, Robert Schlup, Tim Dykstra, and Jeff Goddard. These folks are moving and setting our equipment at odd times all through the band season. Next time you see them - thank them for the extra work they do. These guys are definately "pulling more than their own weight!"

A Long Day: Rehearsal, USF Halftime & Presidents' Bowl

Posted September 14
It may not have been the longest day of the season but Saturday September 13th was indeed one long day. The triple feature day included a morning rehearsal, a halftime performance during the University of Sioux Falls/Dana football blowout (USF 70, Dana 0) and the night cap at Howard Wood field. As Lincoln was the "visiting team", the band performed their show just prior to the Washington-Lincoln game, a 41-22 defeat for LHS.

The day included morning rains, a cloudy afternoon performance and a partly sunny evening show. The show at USF did not completely please the directors, but the fans and staff at USF were delighted. Willie Sanchez, Athletic Director, took time after the game to praise the pit for the band's outstanding performance, saying it was as good as any marching band he'd ever seen.

The performance in the evening was the first time the Sioux Falls bands were invited to perform at Presidents' Bowl. The annual school fund raiser benefits many organizations, and the bands got to strut their stuff in front of more than 10,000 fans. And Lincoln fans were "treated" to the show from the visitors stands, a view they don't usually get.

The day was not without incident, among them, a muddy parking lot altering the band's stadium entry plans, and the new drum major stand buckled supports being moved in the morning and required a quick repair. For pictures of the day, click here, & use the "slide show" feature to enjoy a look at the day.

Band Wows Crowd; Patriots Stun Riders 21-6

Posted September 6
The Lincoln Patriot Marching Band took the field for their first halftime performance on Friday September 5th and wowed the crowd with the 2008 show. The band did their best to work a little magic with the "Spellbound" show, and it must have helped at the Patriot football team stunned the number one ranked Roosevelt Rough Rider 21-6.

The night was perfect for the show and the game as the temp hung near the 60 degree mark most of the evening. And for the first time in recent memory, the majority of fans stayed after the halftime show to see the unfolding gridiron upset.

The band didn't disappoint the Patriot faithful, turning a good early September performance. "We're still working on some timing issues, but the show is coming right along" said director Bob Carlson.
Roadies had their first chance to really get int the action Friday night as well. Roadies Jeff Goddard and Robert Schlup took advantage of the down-time before the show to fix the white truck's trailer light harness.

Considering Jeff returning from a near death experience (okay - it was a cold, but he was still heavily medicated) the pit placement went extremely well, with a nice blend of newer Roadies and grizzly old veterans manning the equipment. And no injuries to Roadies were noted - a first time ever, maybe?? The pit kids pulled off one of the quickest load-ups ever, having both trailers secure well before the end of the third quarter. The two tubas that stayed for the entire game did slow the truck load a bit though. But the Best Roadie move of the night should go to Chip Loudon who scored a free pizza for the Roadies still on-hand late in the 4th quarter.

The excitement didn't end at the stadium though - a roof vent blew off a pit trailer on the way to LHS. Bandparent Don Becker retrieved it ... after being run over multiple times (the vent, not Don). Repairs to the vent were already underway Saturday morning.

Get Ready To Roadie!!

Posted September 2
The first public show where the Roadies get to strut their stuff is this Friday, September 5th. The band will report at 6:00 p.m. and the Roadies and the pit will unload and prepare for their first show at that time at the back gate at Howard Wood Field.

All Roadies working that event must display their 2008 Roadie Nametag. If you haven't received your tag, Head Roadie Jeff Goddard will be distributing them at the back gate area prior to the performance.

As always, do NOT come in the back gate with your tag on unless you are working at the event.. Please do not abuse this privilege.

Jeff will give Roadies their work assignments at the game prior to halftime, so everyone will know what their task is.

If you are new to the Roadies, or just want to see who the people that give up their seats to help the band put on the show, go to the "Meet the Roadies" page on this website.

Take the time to check out pictures too - 370 pictures on-line so far this season already!

The Roadies Have Been Busy Already!

Posted August 26
The band has hit the point of the season where spat camp is done, and school is started. But the first football game halftime is coming and you wonder, what have Jeff and the Roadies been up to? Plenty.

You probably heard there are no props in the show this season, and that is easily the biggest omission from the Roadies preseason agenda. But many projects have been undertaken behind the scenes. There have been several work nights at MES, with space and time graciously donated by long-time band supporter and former bandparent Jay Hardy.

The most recent Roadie event had them, at Howard Wood Field tagging horn cases before the annual Roadie meeting.

The Roadies equipment and projects included: building a new PA cart for the massive sound system, they built and painted a cart for the bells, built a new mini low rider (not quite done yet), repainted the shark cage, put a new wheel on the low rider and repainted it, put a new wheel on the mallekat cart, added mallet bag hooks, and repainted it, added wheels to the gong stand and painted it, repainted the bass drum stand (new wheels are on order), and modified the wheels/dollies for the big sign and repainted them.

That sounds like a lot, and it is. But it's not all. In one evening recently they also replaced the backs and seats of 75 chairs in the band room, assembled 50 new music stands,

attached the registration and insurance papers on all 5 trailers, swept out the Uniform Trailer (and boy did it need it!), staged and loaded the trailers for the trip to HWF several times, got the sign down, assembled it, then loaded it into the Uniform Trailer, marked and verified the keys and locks on all the trailers, and repaired some interior trim in the Uniform Trailer.

A new drum major platform is the newest piece of equipment for the group to figure the logistics of on and off field transport.

So even though the Roadies haven't taken the field officially for 2008, the group has been very active. You can see the Roadies at work by clicking here

Family Night Crowd Spellbound Over Show

Posted August 15, 2008
Hundreds of eager Lincoln Marching Band fans got their first taste of the 2008 show "Spellbound" at moonlit Howard Wood Field on Friday, August 15th. While many caught glimpses of the show at Spat Camp, the crowd did not go away disappointed with the first run through performance.

The show, which prominently features the Rollings Stones song "Paint It Black", is a fast moving show again this year. It is a return to "arranged existing music" this season, a departure from the original scores provided by Jeremy Hegg the past few seasons. Mr. Hegg did arrange the music this season for the band.

Following a cookout, the stands filled up with an excited audience. As is always the case, fans had to sit through the annual fall meeting of the bandparents association before being treated to the show.

While some come just to see the show, the highlight for many family members came with the annual "follow the leader" set. Parents and family are welcomed to the field to try to follow the kids through a portion of their new show. This annual event allows family new insight into the difficulty in executing the season's marching band drill.

For pictures from Family Night, click here and use the slideshow option. Additional photos will be added in the near future.

Spat Camp Complete!


Posted August 8th
The Lincoln Band closed out their 2008 version of Spat Camp on Friday August 8th. Dozens of band parents and fans alike watched as the marchers played through the "Spellbound" show and marched the entire drill. Just minutes past 5:00 p.m. the students raced from Patrick Henry (with the exception of the pit, still loading their equipment) and many readied themselves for the annual trek to Wild Water West. Directors Bob and Dan Carlson were very pleased at the progress made during camp. "We're where we want to be, and the students responded to our challenge" said Mr C. Both agreed it was a good camp. Bob Carlson said the progress the students made on the drill and music was great, but expressed disappointment and the number of musicians that didn't know all their music beyond the show. "We have a number of sophomores and juniors that don't know America South" Bob said, shaking his head in disbelief. The weather cooperated throughout camp, with only one morning spent indoors. The hottest, most humid day of the two-week period was on Sunday the 3rd, the one day they were not at camp.

The 72 page drill was a challenge for the band, but students seemed excited about the challenge. Though all the pit percussion music is not yet written, (an annual occurence during spat camp) the show should be ready to present to family member at Family Night on August 15th at Howard Wood Field.

Breakfast With The Band Marks Spat Camp Midpoint


Posted August 3rd
Parents, friends and band alumni gathered at Patrick Henry Middle School on Saturday August 2nd for the annual "Breakfast With The Band" celebration. Originally established as a fundraising opportunity to sell Krispie Kreme doughnuts, the gathering has become the highlight of the first week of Spat Camp.

Parents milled about during the morning rehearsal, singing up for committees and picking up spirit wear. The highlight of the morning was, as always, the opportunity for those attending to hear their first taste of some of the show music from the '08 show "Spellbound". The band has worked hard to get the drill for the entire show blocked out in the first week, and will spend the upcoming week polishing and practicing.

Full Band Starts at Spat Camp

Posted July 28
Spat camp got underway in full on Monday, July 28 as over 280 musicians and color guard convened at Patrick Henry Middle School. The muggy Monday started with the annual kick-off meeting, where directors Dan and Bob Carlson laid down the rules and routines of Spat Camp. New for '08: keep your phones in your pockets at all times. The Carlson's passed on their goals for the week, including having the entire show blocked out by the end of Spat Camp on Friday.

The attendance block was the first order of the day on the field, a form that the students will use every day they practice. By mid afternoon, the band had formed their first horn arc to learn their breathing exercises, and had played their first notes as a group, practicing their warm up scales.

The Patriot Marching Band had their first taste Spat Camp in true July fashion: the dew point hovered at 70 as the air temp topped 85 at mid afternoon. But the directors were pleased to have everyone there: two holes created by student that had moved were plugged by hole-fillers ready and waiting. "It was a good start today" director Bob Carlson said after the lunch break.

Spat camp continues all week at Patrick Henry, with parents and friends invited Saturday morning for the annual "Breakfast with the band".

Rookies Open Spat Camp


Posted July 26th

It has begun. Under partly cloudy skies with temps hovering around 70 degrees the 2008 Lincoln High School Marching Band season officially on the morning of Friday, July 25th. Section leaders and new marchers spent the day on the lawn south of Patrick Henry Middle school, working on the basics. By mid-day all were familiar with the traditional “Detail, Ten HUT!” command of Director Dan Carlson, known to all as Mr. C.

When lunch was done the skies had cleared and as the thermometer passed 84, the block drilled on stepping off, rolling their heels, and practicing 8 steps forward, and 8 steps back. By the end of the afternoon they were familiar with reading their drill chart – papers they’ll become all too familiar with in the coming weeks.

“We’re excited” when director Bob Carlson talked of the show “Spellbound”. With 285 students the Carlson’s have no small task shaping the band into their traditional top-notch band.

Spat Camp continues on Monday, July 28, when the rest of the band joins in, and the work begins on the 2008 show Spellbound.

Oh - The Places We'll Go!!


Posted April 12
The fall 2008 marching band schedule was recently announced, and the competition sites are all familiar to the Lincoln High Marching Band. After spending parts of July and August at Patrick Henry Middle School for Spat Camp, the band will hit the road in September.

The band's tentative schedule has them competing on September 20 at the "Pursuit of Excellence" competition in Marshall, MN. The following week , September 27, they'll make the trip to Irondale High School at New Brighton, MN for the "Music of the Night" competition. After staying at home as a co-host of "Festival of Bands" on October 4th, the band will return for the first time in three years to the "Valleyfest" show at West Des Moines, IA. on October 11th. The band's competition season will wrap up in Vermillion, SD at "Quad State" on October 18th.

Football halftime performances are tentatively scheduled for September 13th (President's Bowl), September 19th (Homecoming), October 3rd, October 17th, and possibly October 28th.
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