Marching bands to take over stadium
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 
to del.icio.us
BY PETER DAINING AND SYLVIA DANA
news@grandhaventribune.com
Around 3,000 people are expected to crowd into Buccaneer Stadium on Saturday, but it's not to watch football.
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Instead, seven high school bands will take center stage at the second-ever Grand Haven Marching Band Invitational.
This is the only chance to see the Spring Lake High School band and the Grand Haven High School bands perform in a local competition this season, according to Grand Haven Band Director Greg Maynard.
The bands will compete in 15-minute intervals starting at 6:45 p.m., he said. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.
"The best part for the spectators is that they get to see many bands perform," Maynard said.
Spring Lake High School competes at 8 p.m. Grand Haven High School takes the field at 8:30 p.m., the last performance of the evening. The award ceremony is set for 8:50 p.m.
Fennville, Fremont, Whitehall, Sturgis and Otsego will join the two local bands, which is the first invitational for each school, Maynard said.
"We use this as an avenue to perform for an audience, but the biggest reason why we do this is to get critique from the judges," Maynard said. "We use this as a guide to see if we improve throughout the season."
Seven judges will rank the bands in categories such as best music, best marching band, best percussion, best color guard and best drum major, Maynard said.
Awards will also be given to the top Class B schools and the top Class C schools, as well as a Grand Champion award for the best out of all seven bands. Fennville and Fremont are Class C, and the other four bands are Class B, Maynard said.
The 109-member Grand Haven High School band's show is called "Rhapsody in Red," and it includes music from composers Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst and Peter Tchiakovsky.
Spring Lake High School's 111-member band will perform a show titled "The Music of Chicago and Earth, Wind and Fire."
"We've been rehearsing for it since late July and it is one of three festival or invitational performances we are giving this year," said Mark Grevengoed, co-director of the Spring Lake band.
Fruitport will not be involved in the invitational this Saturday, but will compete every Saturday during the month of October in the Michigan Competing Band Association circuit — attending shows in Hudsonville, Allegan, Jenison and Reeths-Puffer.
Maynard said 10 schools competed at the 2007 Grand Haven Marching Band Invitational, which was held later in the season. The Mattawan Marching Band was the event's 2007 Grand Champion and Spring Lake was runner-up.
