As the members of Westview GOLD rushed across the football field, Color Guard placed the cityscape backdrops across the 20 and 30-yard lines, percussion wheeled out their instruments, and the Band Dads helped bring the group’s main prop: a museum scene with a mysterious black box in the middle. Then, a leitmotif of “The Pink Panther Theme” started to reveal to the audience that “The Heist” had begun for the Westview GOLD Invitational Field Tournament, Nov. 8, which featured 14 different San Diego schools. At this tournament, GOLD was not allowed to officially compete due to the advantage of being on their home field. Instead, they had an exhibition of their show so they could still get scores and feedback.

According to band director Mitchell Way, the preparation for the competitive marching show starts at the end of the preceding school year, with their concept nailed down by July 4. 

This year, their field show follows a story of a heist with Color Guard trying to steal a pink diamond prop throughout the entire show. When the band starts to slow the music to the ballad “Diamonds are Forever”, Valerie Hsu (11), Color Guard co-captain, finally reveals a hidden pink diamond prop that was enclosed in their black box.

From there, the drumline and Hsu clash as she tries to maneuver herself through a nest of lasers to turn them off and reach the diamond. Once she comes into contact with it, a dramatic alarm goes off and the percussion section starts playing “Kill This Love,” by Blackpink, while the rest of the band performs a dance sequence, which is an addition that they haven’t done before in previous years. 

“Learning a dance feels like a much scarier task to take on,” GOLD President, Kate Tripiano (12) said. “There is much more room for error [than marching], and before getting it down it can get frustrating at times, but once it clicks it feels super cool and is always so fun to perform.”

From there, the band transitions to classical music with Samuel Barber’s Medea “Dance of Vengeance,” which creates an ominous mood for Hsu’s second attempt at stealing the diamond when she finally succeeds. From there, Erika Takaya (12), Color Guard co-captain, holds the diamond, and the band tries to close in on her when Color Guard then forms a pathway that Takaya runs through to escape.

In recent years, the program hasn’t planned shows with real storylines, but Way said they had enough confidence and ambition in the Color Guard’s visual performance to try it out.

“[This year’s show] is more what we call programmatic, so there’s actually a plot line which we have tended to avoid because you have to have really strong visual aspects to pull that off,” Way said. “Our Color Guard are wonderful. They’re all really great and expressive with their faces and we have at least two really well-trained dancers that can pull all that off.” 

Many senior GOLD members who have been in the program since their freshman year, have said that this show has been one of the more eccentric shows that they’ve had. Bass clarinetist Zahabyia Esmail (12) said that she thought last year’s show didn’t have as many visual aspects, which makes this year’s both more difficult and interesting to perform. 

“I think the concept, in general, is more fun and unique compared to last year,” Chon said. “I feel like I haven’t personally seen anything like this before in a marching show.”

One of the most significant additions is that this year, Color Guard has a costume change in the middle of the performance, which is something Way said he has been wanting to include for a while. After doing two years of Color Guard, Serenity Calica (11) said that this was one of the more difficult movements she’s had to do during a show.

“I’m the very last one to change, so it’s very chaotic, especially behind the [backdrops we use],” Calica said. “It’s definitely something to get used to, trying to calm my nerves  to get it off on time.”

This change in direction has proven to be worth it as GOLD has placed first at every local tournament that they’ve participated in as they work toward the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association’s Field Show Championship, Nov. 17, which features the top 12 bands in Southern California. At these competitions, they are adjudicated based on their musical performance, visual effect, music effect, visual performance, and auxiliary performance. With these wins, the band is currently seated fourth for championships, and last year, GOLD placed fourth at the end of the season. With how their season has been going, they hope to place in the top three this year.

After every tournament, the group receives personal comments and criticisms from each of the adjudicators. They then take in this feedback and decide how they can improve their show. This year, Way said that they have been adding new visuals after every tournament before they hosted the Westview Field Show.

“[The GOLD members have] been dealing with trying to process extra responsibilities rather than just clean up,” Way said. “[Since Nov. 4,] we’ve added nothing and just let them kind of settle into the responsibilities and it’s paying off.”

As a way to motivate the band, all of the drum majors have agreed that if they place, they will do something fun with their hair. Mina Hurt (12) said she will bleach hers. 

Way said that this season has been stronger than previous years, and the members have high hopes for the outcome of the season. 

“Last year had very positive experiences, not a lot of negativity, but the demand of what they’re doing and the responsibilities have been a lot higher, and they’re doing it really well,” Way said. 

For the band members, the show has received a lot of positive feedback despite the increase in difficulty of visuals.

“I feel like there’s a really good balance between music and our visuals,” alto saxophone Pauline Onishi (10) said. “I feel like it’s really good that we incorporated a lot more visuals this year and it really helps show our theme and show what we are capable of.”