This post was submitted by Sierra Harris (10, J&C).

Manual’s Crimson Sound marching band placed fifth in the Regional finals competition at Butler High School on Saturday, November 3, beating out 15 of the 21 schools present; however, the score is officially recorded as eighth place due to a clerical error when one of the judges’ score was misinterpreted as 42 instead of 72.

Preliminary competition:

The Crimson Sound was the 18th band to perform in the class Four A competition. Manual’s principal Mr. Darryl Farmer and Manual’s assistant principal Mrs. Paula Boggs were there to support the band. The 70 members of the Crimson Sound presented their performance of “Cityscapes,” which represents the hustling and bustling of a large city such as Louisville and incorporates jazz and funk elements into the music. The show featured songs such as “Blue Shades” by Frank Ticheli, “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel and “James Brown in the Twilight Zone (from Concerto for Bass and Trombone and Orchestra)” by Chris Brubeck. The Crimson Sound placed second in their class and fourth overall for this competition. 

Finals competition:

The Crimson Sound went up against 12 other schools during the Finals competition. During their performance the Crimson Sound presented their show of a bustling city once again. The judges gave Crimson Sound fifth place overall for their performance. 

However, the judges originally told the band that they received eighth place due to the scoring error.

“I’m not real thrilled with the placement. I thought we had a much better performance this time around. It was far more emotional, far more energetic,” said Mr. Jason Gregory, the Crimson Sound’s band director, “But it is what it is. Judging is sometimes a subjective thing, and you may never know what the results will be.” 

A lot of the band members agree. 

“I expected us to get higher [place],” Jimmy Renton (10, YPAS), “But we put out our hearts on that field and that’s all that matters. We had a really good run, and I’m proud of our entire band.” 

Though Crimson Sound may have walked away feeling slightly dismayed, they already looking ahead to next year.

“We’re always trying harder in every competition and everything we do,” Gregory said. 

You can see the Crimson Sound’s full performance on tomorrow, November 8th at halftime of the football playoff game.