The Berlin Marching Band hosted their annual “5th Quarter” on Sept. 9 where high schools throughout Ohio performed parade entrances as well as individual field shows.
Parade entrances started promptly at 6:30 p.m. as the six schools who visited came in through the right of the stadium as the Bears arrived last on the left side.
After the parade entrances, the Class of ‘24 band members with the exception of Berlin students, gathered in the right corner nearest to the stadium to run through the Berlin band across the field. This was similar to a football game as players entered as the band played.
Alexander High School’s band was the first to perform in the field shows and kicked the show off with a theme of boy bands that consisted of “Best Song Ever” by One Direction, “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys, “SOS” by Jonas Brothers, and “Twist and Shout” by the Beatles. The Marching Spartans from Albany in Athens County was directed by Morgan Hafner and Assistant Director Kevin Dael. Although a fairly small band, they established themselves with an upbeat high-step march and music. They have performed at the Circleville Pumpkin Show and the Jackson Apple Festival.
The Marching Vikings hail from Northridge High School where they perform at football games, local parades, and different band shows. They also earned a Superior rating (the highest rating) four times at the OMEA State Final Competition. After two prior performances at Walt Disney World, they now plan to perform at Universal Studios. They also included a color guard within their renditions of “Sweet Child O’Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, “Everybody” by Backstreet Boys, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, and “Come Together” by the Beatles.
Fredericktown’s marching band’s theme was women in pop and they embraced it with the presentation of “Toxic” by Britney Spears, “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry, and “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. With drums decorated with musical notes, the percussion members are instructed by Chris Philips. The total 94 members are guided by Director Andrew Hollenbaugh and Assistant Director Jessica Overholt. They have performed at more than just the state of Ohio, but also in Orlando, Memphis, and Pittsburgh. Also, they plan in March to play in Chicago this year.
Granville produced a display of “You Give Love A Bad Name” by Boni Jovi, “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, and “Tearin’ Up My Heart” by NSYNC. Their entertainment will continue in Florida at the Pop Tart Bowl and Universal Studios. In 2015, they played at the Peach Bowl Festival where they received a Gold rating and Best in Class. In 2018, they competed at the Outback Bowl festivities and earned crowd favorite in the parade competition and Best in Class for their field show.
They were the only band with a drum major, the Lancer Marching Band of Hebron performed all songs of the Bee Gees. These include “Tragedy”, “If I Can’t Have You”, “Stayin’ Alive”, and “You Should Be Dancing”. Lakewood’s band specializes in popular music from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. They are led by assistant directors Scott Coffey, Katie Brehmer, and Josh Green as well as Director Lauren Domenick.
The Marching Pioneers were the only other Olentangy school to participate in 5th Quarter this year as they performed “Breathless” by The Corrs, “Vertigo” by U2, “Zombie” by The Cranberries, and “Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys. Director Joshua Boyer as well as the other five assistant directors chose these titles to follow their “Irish Rockers” theme as they performed the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland this year. In the past, they were on stages of the Hollywood Christmas Parade, the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Georgia, and on stage with Papa Roach at Rock on the Range. They have several other distinctions as well, but they wish to identify themselves with the pride they hold for their school of Olentangy Orange.
Berlin was the last to perform at the home of the Bears stadium with a surprise of a darkened stadium to accompany “The Lion King” and “I2I” from the “Goofy Movie”. With the addition of “Zero to Hero”, they plan to join the orchestra in Orlando, Florida where they will perform at Walt Disney World.
