Gulf Breeze SoundWave Band performs at 2007 Orange Bowl
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

The Gulf Breeze High School band, known as the Soundwave, are back from their six day stint in South Florida at the Orange Bowl, and everyone made it back in one piece.

The band won top honors for outstanding percussion at the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami and placed second overall in the field show competition. The Soundwave band missed first place by five tenths of a point, barely succumbing to Harrison Central High from Gulfport, Miss.

"For the members, it's a pretty difficult task of remembering and performing a nine-minute halftime show eight weeks after our official competitive season," said Drumline Instructor Ira Fernandez.

"Although not as stellar as our parade run, our halftime performance was still recognized by the judge as being top-notch. It's a testament to the blood, sweat, and tears the members pour into the program at Gulf Breeze High School. We call it 'the standard of excellence.'"

The band played alongside American Idol Taylor Hicks and Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight during the game's halftime show and marched in the Macy's Holiday Parade in Orlando and the Junior Orange Bowl parade in Coral Gables, Fla.

"The best moment was being on the field at halftime with about 70,000 people cheering," said Band Director Neal McLeod.

"It was all well worth it."

The 116 high school students and roughly 20 adult volunteers and directors faced a grueling schedule that typically kept the band hopping from place to place for 17 hours a day.

"Trying to get 140 people checked into hotel rooms in two hours was interesting," said band booster president Joyce Hill. "We learned a whole lot along the way."

One of those lessons may be how much distance to keep between one's luggage and charging electronics. McLeod said a portable DVD battery he was charging in his hotel room exploded,

setting the

c a r p e t aflame and burning a hole in the wall. Luckily, no one was in the room at the time of the incident and there were no injuries.

McLeod said he spent the rest of the day washing clothes and shopping for new luggage.

"I was thankful it happened to me and not one

of our kid's rooms," McLeod said.

"It could have been a lot

worse."

Coordinators

said most of the scheduled activities went according to plan and Mother Nature even blessed the band students with beautiful weather during the majority of the trip.

"It was practically one of the greatest experiences of my life," said 17-year-old trumpet player, Matthew Mauer. "I'll always remember it. Thirty years from now I'll probably still be

thinking about it."

Students are looking forward to getting their hands on a DVD documentary of their Orange Bowl excursion.

"It was a very different experience from any other of our competitions," said drum major Ashley Rotolo, 17. "We're used to just working alone and we got to work with other marching bands that have different styles."

As the students settle back into their classroom routines for spring semester, Soundwave members are preparing for the solo and ensemble festival in February and the concert band festival in March.

Indoor color guard and drumline competitions will also begin in the coming months.

Band directors and student members were both extremely grateful for the community's support for their trip, as the band was able to raise $156,000 through the generosity of Gulf Breeze residents.

Fernandez issued a special 'thank you' to all who contributed to the success of the drumline.

"I want to thank all involved especially my great staff, without whom, none of this was possible," Fernandez wrote in an email. "Brandon Mattair, Robert Pennington, Ashley Shelly, and Nakisha Keyes. They are the best staff Gulf Breeze has had in the six years I've been here. They have my undying gratitude. [A special thanks] to Mr. Neal McLeod, the Gulf Breeze Band Director. Without him, we would have nothing. He's the best band director I've ever worked with in the 11 years I've been an instructor."