LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There hasn’t been a marching band performance at halftime of a Hall High School football game for years now. But that’s about to change.
“This year we're going to bring our band back on the football field and implement some shows, " Band Director Rojay Moore said. "We're bringing back the culture of band and the show-style band culture back to Hall High School.”
Hall High was once known for its powerful and entertaining Showband-style marching band. However, over the years, dwindling participation and interest forced the program to take a step back.
Moore said the past two years have been called “The Rebuild.”
“The whole idea behind the rebuild is to bring Hall High band back to its glory days,” he said.
"You're gonna know when a show band is anywhere around you because you're gonna hear it, you're gonna feel it, and its gonna be a part of you,” Junior band member Kylon Woodson said. “Even if you don't know the music they're playing, you're gonna rock with it.”
"When we play, it’s a big sound,” Moore said. “It’s just that level of intensity that you don't normally see in a typical corps-style marching band. You know, you're dipping your horn and flashing your cape, and it just creates awe in the audience."
"People might say, 'that's lame, man. We like playing sports and stuff,” sophomore trumpet player Justus Allen said. “But it’s not. Marching is fun. You get to communicate with your peers and that's how you make family in the band. I love it. I wouldn't do anything in the world other than play this.”
The program is dubbing the band the “Marching Warrior Tribe 100.” Moore said he hopes that name helps students visualize a massive band marching down the street in a parade or spreading across the football field.
"We're building from being an underdog to being one of the best bands in Little Rock,” Allen said. “We're getting freshman in from middle schools and bringing them here and trying to build up the talent we know they have inside them."
Woodson said all their hard work is sure to pay off.
"We got the time, we got the talent, so just be on the lookout for us,” he said.