THE ROARING BAND FROM TIGER LAND MAKES HISTORIC RUN

A few weeks ago, Linden-Kildare Band Director Ron Williams couldn’t contain his excitement as The Roaring Band from Tiger Land advanced to the UIL area competition for the first time in more than a decade.

When interviewed shortly after that performance, Mr. Williams said he felt confident they could grab a spot in the state finals.

Mr. Williams’ revelation came true last Saturday, Dec. 5, as The Roaring Band from Tiger Land not only notched a spot in the state finals, which in itself may be historic, but they placed second overall in the marching contest hosted by Lindale High School.

Due to COVID-19 this is all taking place weeks after what would be a normal schedule.

When asked how it felt to place second overall, Mr. Williams replied, “I absolutely LOVE that we were second, rather than third. It kind of puts more ‘umph’ into advancing. And if you crunch all the official numbers in the final results, it’s clear we scored a rather definitive second place. Third place is a good band but scored a good bit lower than us.”

Of course he gave an emphatic reply when I asked how they felt when they found out they were going to state.

“How did we feel?! Oh, dude we went NUTS! I got the results in the contest office along with the other directors and had to work hard to play it cool. Not easy! I went outside the press box to watch the kids who were sitting across the stadium in the visitor stands” Williams remarked. “I teared up when they started announcements, knowing what was coming. When the kids heard we didn’t get announced as fifth place and then fourth place, they instantly knew they had advanced to state and totally lost it! Then when they didn’t get announced as third, they lost it again. Then when they got announced as second they went bananas AGAIN with pride. Super, super, super cool!”

When asked what he will say to the band leading up to its performance Mr. Williams said, “We are going to focus on putting our best performance on the field. We will continue to celebrate the fact we get to compete as one of the best 2A bands in the state of Texas, even if we come out in last place. But hey... let’s work to not be last. We talk a lot about coming off the field knowing we had nothing more and that if someone can beat it, they earned it.”

To date no one is sure if the band has ever gone to state and that information is being looked into.

If not The Roaring Band from Tiger Land 2020 will be remembered for more than just pushing through a pandemic, they will have set the bar high for many years to come as they marched through a gauntlet of competition to get there.

As it is set the L-K band will perform at 12:32 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14, inside the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The Roaring Band form Tiger Land will compete against 17 other bands which are from the school districts of Honey Grove, Sundown, Ganado, Tenaha, Forsan, Thorndale, Falls City, Anson, Post, Rosebud-Lott, Simms, Charlotte, Plains, Thrall, Santo, Harper and Panhandle.

The Roaring Band from Tiger Land will complete the “Road to San Antonio” as of 12:45 p.m. next Monday.

Don’t be surprised to find that the road is paved with blue and white colors.