Band Geeks Rule

Eruption

This next part doesn't have much to do with the North Mason High School Band exactly, other than Mr. D. and a few North Mason students took part in it. Eruption Drum and Bugle Corps was a marching ensemble organization that consisted of brass instruments, percussion, pit, color guard, and choreographic movements. Eruption Drum and Bugle Corps took place outside of the high school, in which students from several area schools participated. Rehearsals took place at Bonney Lake High School, where students practiced all day on Saturdays and Sundays once a month and then for two intense weeks in late June. The few North Mason students that did it that year were Will, Steffen Riener, Gage Tuttle, Sarah, and Caleb Stewart.

Eruption staff was practically begging for members since participants were low. Steffen didn't see himself joining some drum and bugle corps on top of working a summer job. That lasted only a short while when Mr. D. called him into his office one day and displayed a brand new mellophone (which is like a marching French horn, but he gets mad if you directly equated it to that). He had been offered a position to play and he accepted it. Little did he know at that time it would just be him and one other player on that particular instrument. Steffen didn't feel very adept with his marching skills in his first couple years at North Mason, however, his involvement in the drum and bugle corps raised the bar of achievement, to which he improved dramatically.

Burdens of Brilliance: Inside the Mind of Mozart was the show for that year and included Symphony #25 in G minor, Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat, Serenade #10 B flat, Requiem, and Don Giovanni all by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Eruption Drum and Bugle Corps was an expedition group that performed at several venues and stadiums including McMinnville, Oregon, Seaside, Oregon, Renton, Washington, and Richland, Washington. Their first performance, which was a community performance. The band, including Mr. D., was very nervous and, of course, something had to go wrong. The band props were very simple, just painted muslin cloth and during the show one of the props fell, yet the band carried on.

They didn't win any awards that year but Mr. D. stated that they were just lucky to perform. That's really all you can ask for, because some bands never get a chance to perform on national stages like this. As long as you show up, work hard, and have fun doing it; that's all that matters.