photo credit: Sophie Rogers
Bright lights beam across the large auditorium, and the different colors of light shine onto the stage and audience. The drumline beats to the rhythm loudly while a variety of instruments play along cheerfully. The audience members radiate happiness as a beautiful performance flashes before their eyes.
FNL, which stands for Friday Night Live, is a yearly tradition for the marching band. It is held usually in mid-November, right after their season of playing during football games and festivals.
“People should attend FNL because it is the closing to marching season and is where we play all of our songs that we’ve done throughout the season,” senior Taylor Boyd said. Boyd is a section leader of the marching band’s color guard.
FNL signifies the end of the marching band season that’s a myriad of performances. This year, FNL is taking place Nov. 21-24, in the auditorium.
“FNL is our really exciting combination of our season, we play our season’s music, it’s a huge production and it’s what the students look forward to probably the most every year; there’s a lot of great energy and a lot of great visuals expression with it,” Marching Band Director Josh Boyer said.
This season, the band has traveled to Circleville, Ohio to march in the annual pumpkin show parade in the town. The marching band competed in the Buckeye Invitational, a band competition between high schools, at the Ohio Stadium.
“Our music selection for this year is really good, I think we’re playing a lot of good songs that people know and like,” junior Riley Brooks said. Brooks is one of the section leaders in the band as well and plays the trombone.
The theme for this year’s FNL is “Take It Easy”. While it sounds relaxed, the band is still working hard. The theme comes from the fact that the band had a very exciting and big year last year as they went to Ireland for the first time to perform in the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
“We have some exciting stuff planned though for our drumline feature and some other stuff going on so it’s going to be a really cool experience and kind of exciting for everybody,” Boyer said.
It’s $10 to attend the show, guests can buy tickets at the door and students can also buy tickets during their lunches. The show is at 7 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, and is at 4pm on Sunday.
“It’s like no event you’ve ever been to—you’re surrounded by music, lights and colors as the band marches around the aisles of the theater,” Boyd said.
Make sure to keep your calendars open and bring a friend or two to come on one of the four nights of the performance. So you can enjoy and support Olentangy Orange’s marching band for one final time for the 2024-2025 season.
“It’s an exciting way for all our parents and supporters to come and see the band one last time cause this band as it is will never exist after FNL it’s the last time we perform together as this band with this personnel,” Boyer said.
