While fall sports are in the middle of their season, the marching band is just starting its competition season. On Sept. 18, all five Fayette County high school marching bands performed at the Fayette County Marching Exhibition at McIntosh High School. The exhibition gives participants feedback on what they can improve before the competitions.

The Exhibition showcased all five high school marching band shows that will be performed during the 2018 season.

“I thought it [Exhibition] went well, I think for our personal show the newest information was the roughest, as you would expect, but overall it went well, the kids performed well, they behaved well and I think everybody had a good time,” assistant band director Bert Groover said.

Fayette County High School performed first. Their show this year is Ease On Down the Road. The show is based on the “Wizard of Oz” and one of the songs from the show was “The Wiz.”

The Sandy Creek High School band performed Super Heroes. The color guard each dressed up as different superheroes to add more effect to the theme. The music selections were Captain America March, Batman Theme, Superman Opener, and The Avengers.

The Starr’s Mill High School Marching Band performed third. The theme for this year is Fire and Ice. This was the first time the Panther Pride Marching Band performed their full show. The movements were heat, melted metal, cool ice, and frostbite.

The show has new props this year to add more effect to the theme. The props include red and blue decorations for the uniforms, smoke and fire machine, and prop stands with the pictures of fire and ice. Along with the props, the marching band has two soloists for the second and the third movements.

“I expect us to do very well, we have been preparing for a long time and we have worked really hard to work up to the competition, so I think we are really prepared,” drum major Kennedy Blanks said.

Whitewater High School performed next in big arches and powerful sounds.Their theme this year is the Moscow Mosaic featuring songs related to Russian music. The musical selections including “Russian Easter Overture,” “Tailored in G Minor,” “Adagio,” and “Sagittarius.”

The night ended with host McIntosh High School performing Beautiful Nightmares. They did not perform their whole show, but did rehearse two movements, “Sweet Dreams” and “Dream On.” The songs describe what happens during sleep.

All five Fayette County marching bands will be heading to different competitions starting this month. The Starr’s Mill marching band begins its competition season at the Armuchee Invitational Contest this Saturday.