Sound the horns. Gather the entourage. Football season is back, and so is the marching band.

Back in May, members of the Robinson High School Marching Band were surprised by the announcement of a more artistic show theme for the Fall 2022 marching season: “The Mad World.”

“I’m really excited to see how this theme turns out overall because we haven’t done a show like this—to my knowledge—ever at Robinson,” said Marching Band Drill Sergeant Sarah Blackshear (’23).

“The Mad World” is a story about a person living in a society where madness reigns supreme. Band Director Christopher Revett drew inspiration from the idea of a person’s mental state slowly deteriorating as he goes insane in this mad world. Moreover, the theme relates to this world’s society within the past two years since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when many fell apart as they were stuck inside their homes.

“Initially when [hearing] about it, I was confused,” said Band Captain Celeste Lara (’23), “however, I had kind of been campaigning for a more abstract, camp theme, so I’m actually really excited about it.”

Like Lara said, the 2022 marching show is much more impressionistic compared to recent years.

Last year’s theme stuck to the traditional medieval aesthetic celebrated in over 60 years of school tradition. 2020 was more mellow with mandated performances for COVID-19 concerns and they could only put on a few jazz pieces between their stand playing. Before the pandemic, the band put on “Scheherazade,” inspired by the fictional narrator of the ancient classic “One Thousand and One Nights.” The creativity of this year’s show sparked optimistic reactions from band members.

“Part of me was a little concerned as to how it would be perceived by the students, but overall I’m happy we are doing a show that will be unexpected from us,” Ronald “RJ” Sharp (’24) commented.

A new year welcomes new young members to the band. Prior to game day, they must practice and shape up before being put under the spotlights—or rather, stadium lights—for the big show.

While the band typically gathers at the RHS campus during the summer to prepare for the upcoming year, campus construction inconveniences have forced them to move base for a while. So, picking up their equipment, they marched their way over to Monroe Middle School. Newbies met their upperclassmen and fellow bandmates at summer practices and camps, where they participated in team bonding activities alongside actual playing practice.

“We definitely have some strong new members, and of course, some are weaker than others,” Nico DeLise (’23) explained, “but over the course of the season, they’re all going to develop into a strong foundation for the next few years.”

If one is not the biggest fan of sports, there’s always this year’s marching show to look forward to. However, football game attendees will have to wait until the second game of the season on Aug. 26 to see “The Mad World.”

“I know the crowd is going to be confused the first time they see the show, but I really hope they find the theme super interesting and continue to support the band as they always do,” Lara concluded.