2022-2023 seniors pictured with band directors Jerell Horton and Heather Palmer
The Rebel Marching Band is often known for their one of a kind halftime shows. Every year the band brings new ideas and creative adaptations to light. Rebel Band Directors Mrs. Heather Palmer and Mr. Jerell Horton are always on the lookout for how they can take “Cliche ideas and up the ante.”
Over the last three years, the Rebel Marching Band has performed a variety of shows, from “Starcrossed” to a show inspired by the “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin. Even during the uncertain months of COVID, the band worked to the best of their ability to create an interesting show despite the unfortunate circumstances, creating “Beethoven In B-Funk”.
This year, the Rebel Marching Band did not break their streak of memorable shows, putting together “The Caroline Experiment.” Based around the familiar fan favorite tune “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, the band works to engage their audience, starting off the show by the 200+ members of the marching band chanting the familiar lines of the song. Though the show captures the audience with its eye-catching drill and familiar tune, it does so much more than this.
A VHHS Marching Band halftime show is not just a way to entertain the passionate rebel fans while the football team is off the field, it is also an art. As in art, the Rebel Marching band shows always have a deeper meaning. I spoke with Mr. Jerell Horton to get a glimpse at what this “Caroline Experiment” is truly about. Mr. Horton told me that the show attempts to display the effects that COVID had on the world and how we all had to work together in order to progress and grow. The familiar tune of “Sweet Caroline” serves to display our pre-COVID world and how everything was familiar. The show then takes a turn away from this well known melody, representing the unpredictable months of COVID and how they affected us all. Through working in unity to find harmony and familiar chords the band reaches the world post-covid, represented by the popular 1985 tune “We Are the World” by U.S.A for Africa which states, “It’s true we’ll make a brighter day, just you and me.” Who would have thought that a high school halftime show based around a familiar Neil Diamond tune would serve to combat the effects of COVID on our world? Well, this is just one example of the Rebel Marching Band’s incredible artistry.
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