Michigan marching bands parade in a new year

As the sign says, Happy New Year!  To usher in 2016, I'm returning to something that I mentioned at the end of Walled Lake Central Marching Band in Macy's Parade.

Plymouth-Canton's band has their own televised holiday event to look forward to; they're marching in the 2016 Rose Parade.  This is a good year for Michigan's top high school marching bands.

Here's the story from Hometown Life: PC marching band ready for Rose Bowl parade.

Plymouth-Canton Marching Band members – approximately 176 of them – and families had bumpy flights Sunday, but arrived in California to sun and warmer weather as they prepare to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade Friday.
...
Band and booster members and parents have fundraised since the award-winning band was invited to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade earlier this year. In the end, about $100,000 was raised to help defray the approximate $500,000 cost of sending the band, the members and equipment to Pasadena. The equipment was hauled by truck to Pasadena.

When the 126th Tournament of Roses Parade begins at 8 a.m., (west coast time) New Year’s Day, the Plymouth-Canton Marching Band will be in the 34th place in the procession. Band members are gearing up for the five-mile parade.
...
After their arrival in California Sunday, the band practiced and then were off to see the sights, including the Santa Monica Pier. “The kids are in good spirits,” [Chris] Zygmunt [president of the marching band boosters club] said.

On Wednesday, the marching band participated in a competitive band festival. The plan is also to perform at Disneyland.

The Tournament of Roses Parade this year sports the theme “Find Your Adventure.” So the band will perform the theme of the Back to the Future film, just as the parade makes a turn and heads toward the TV cameras. Back to the Future will also be in the band’s performance at Disneyland. But it will perform its 2015 show, “E.X.O.,” described as a musical journey into alien worlds, during the band festival.

Before I share video of the band festival, I'm sharing this clip of their performance at the Macy's Parade four years ago: Plymouth Canton Educational Park Marching Band Macy's Parade 2011.


I should be a good environmentalist and recycle that for Christmas! Now, Plymouth-Canton HS Marching Band at the 2016 Pasadena Bandfest

Plymouth-Canton High School Marching Band performing their musical selections at the 36th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Wednesday, December 30th 2015.

I'll post a video of the band at the Rose Parade proper in a couple of weeks. Should their Disneyland performance become available by then, I'll post it, too.

Follow over the jump for more Michigan marching bands in parades.

Enough people were looking for performances by the Walled Lake Central Marching Band at the Macy's Parade that it put the entry about the band's performance in the top ten for November.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a video for them until a few days ago, when the Macy's Parade started their own YouTube channel and uploaded one, along with the video of Plymouth-Canton from 2011.  Here it is: Walled Lake Central High School Viking Marching Band Macy's Parade 2015.


Enough of the Macy's Parade.  What about Michigan bands who have marched in the Rose Parade?  Music213 brings a recording of Michigan State University Spartan Marching Band - 2014 Pasadena Rose Parade.

Michigan State University Spartan Marching Band performing at the 125th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Wednesday, January 1st 2014.

In the interest of equal time (plus my being a Michigan alum), here's the Michigan Marching Band in the 1998 Rose Parade.

The Michigan Marching Band performs in the 1998 Rose Parade. Later in the day, the Michigan football team defeated Washington State to cap its undefeated National Championship season.

Once again, Happy New Year!