Tiger Band steps off for 2018 marching season

The Dripping Springs Tiger Band is once again heading into a competitive fall with five major competitions, culminating with the Bands of America (BOA) Super-Regional Competition in St. Louis the last weekend of October.

“In St. Louis, the DSHS Band will compete with more than 100 other bands,” said Director Derek Woods. “Coming off their Silver Medal finish at 5A State Marching Contest, the Tiger Band is roaring to go!”

While this year is not a “State year” for 5A bands (only every other year), they do have a demanding competition schedule, performing not only at all high school football games, but also five very tough competitions this fall.

The band began their work at the end of last school year, when they began to receive parts of the new show music to learn and memorize. Over the summer, most of the students played off their music at “Opportunity Days” in June & July.

Late July saw the beginning of summer band when, on average, the band worked six hours a day, usually 7-11 in the morning and 6-9 at night. Not only did the students march and play, but they also started off rehearsals with demanding physical conditioning programs, which help the band’s endurance when they’re marching in contests in the very hot dog-days of fall in full uniform. This regimen continued through August, until the start of school. During the fall, they continue to rehearse, respecting the TEA/UIL-allotted 8 hours outside of the school day. Many students are also working on State audition music over this same time frame. This year’s show is “2181: Adventures in Time and Space.” Cleverly incorporating the widely diverse music of Holst (from The Planets), Tchaikovsky (1812 Overture) and Stan Kenton’s symphonic jazz piece (Adventures in Time,) the show concept plays with all aspects of TIME -- clock imagery, ticking sounds and the relationship of 1812 to 2181 (The numbers are the reverse of each other!) SPACE comes into the concept through 2181 -- with Milky Way and Nebula imagery.

Designed to appeal to audiences of all musical tastes, this show highlights the outstanding technical expertise of the band members as well as its well-deserved reputation for being able to create masterpieces on the field using their formations, choreography, and magical storytelling through their musical and visual mastery.

Through all of these elements, the band delights, entertains and astounds audiences of all ages when they take the field at halftime for the Dripping Springs High School varsity football games, and again on the field at Marching Band competitions.

“We cordially invite the entire community to attend as many of the Tiger Band’s performances and competitions as possible,” said Woods. “These hard-working, outstanding young people want and need everyone’s support as they compete.”

The first two competitions are near-by. On Saturday, Sept. 29th, the DSHS Tiger Band will compete in Capital City Marching Festival, held at Toney Burger Center Stadium, 3200 Jones Rd, Austin, TX 78745, (SW Austin.) The Tiger Band also will compete Saturday, October 6th at Westlake High School in West Austin.

On October 13th, the band travels to the BOA (Bands of America) competition in Waco. October 23rd the band revisits Toney Burger Stadium for the UIL Region Marching Contest and this very busy 2018 competitive season will conclude with a trip to the BOA St. Louis Super Regional, held in The Dome at America's Center.

“We encourage the folks of Dripping Springs to come out and support their Award-Winning Tiger Band, especially at these near-by contests,” Woods invited. “Once you’ve attended one contest, you’ll be eager to attend more – and what better fall tradition than road trips to cheer on the Dripping Springs High School Tiger Marching Band!”

Our community can follow them on Facebook at Dripping Springs Tiger Band Fans.