Warren Gold Brigade is starting a new season, working together after their win at the Scholastic competition last season. The Gold Brigade consists of both the marching band and the color guard team at Warren Central. There are many layers to the band aspect of it, which include woodwinds, brass, battery – also known as drums, and front ensemble – also known as mallets.
The Warren Gold Brigade recently won first place at the Noblesville Black & Gold Invitational on Sept. 21. They won awards for best general effects, music, visuals, drum major and color guard. They have another event, the State Prelims, on Oct. 5, two more home football games, Bands of America at Lucas Oil Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, and State Finals on Oct. 19.
Junior Ava Gardner has been in band since her freshman year, and the reason she has stayed is because she has connected with not only the people but also the music.
“My favorite thing about being in it is definitely the competitions, seeing what we place and then how we can do better in the future,” Gardner said. “When we’re performing we compete with the other groups, and we get to see how the practice has paid off.”
The Gold Brigade isn’t just about the band, though. Color Guard is also a big part of it as well. They help create the visuals of the shows during halftime at football games and competitions.
Kendra Cooley joined guard when she was in fifth grade and she has stayed in guard because it teaches her a lot in such a short amount of time. She is one of three captains and she enjoys guiding her younger teammates and teaching them things she wishes she knew at the time.
“One thing I feel is good about the Gold Brigade is being able to showcase your talent in a unique way,” Cooley said. “Not everyone can play an instrument at such an advanced level or toss a rifle, turn around and catch it in the splits.”
Although the practice can be a lot on the students and even the teachers, being such a successful team makes it worth it. The teams are very strong in their own ways, but they all have to rely on each other for counts to execute the show well. Having that strong bond as a team even without having to talk to each other a lot of the time, they all still get along really well. They have a big team of a hundred students so they tend to work in small parts most of the time, but they also work altogether too.
Performing Arts department chair Ed Meckes, one of the directors of the Gold Brigade, says his favorite thing is that every year they do a different and unique show, so it’s fun to see that group of students be able to take ownership of it and get better at performing it because they never do the same thing multiple years in a row, making that show unique especially with the students who participate in it.
“It feels really good coming back,” Meckes said. “We just picked up where we left off with a new group of students.”