The Plano Drumline performed their show “Dooors” at the Plano Drumline Contest on Sept. 23 at Clark Stadium.

    “Our show is based on an app called Dooors; it’s kind of like a virtual escape room on your phone,” senior Drumline member Sean Kemp said.

    Drumline instructor Michael Hernandez was the inspiration behind the unique and intriguing show, choosing music selections from Doorways, which is composed and arranged by Ian Grom and John Mapes. The piece had exclusive rights that were reserved to the Plano Drumline, so Plano \was guaranteed to be playing something different than every other ensemble at the competition.

    Plano Drumline hosts the contest, so they did not compete against the other schools for placement, but rather performed for the judges’ feedback and commentary. Although they did not compete to win the contest, an immense amount of effort still went into learning and perfecting their show.

    “We are carrying on our tradition of excellence and having a great time while doing it,” senior Drumline Captain Patrick Tierney said.

    Drumline had daily rehearsals during the school week and a four hour rehearsal every Saturday, but they still manage to have fun and bond through things like “Jorts Purrsday” day, where each student wore a cat shirt and jean shorts. Also, over the summer they participated in team bonding activities like “Drumaton”, an all night event where every member took turns to sustain a constant drum roll on snare.

    “The love of being a part of a family is the main reason I wanted to be Drumline Captain,” Tierney said.

    Due to the immense amount of time Drumline members spend together, they form a special friendship and family-like atmosphere. Both Tierney and Kemp said that their favorite part of being in drumline is making music with people that they have grown to love. Throughout the difficult and long rehearsals where Drumline members have to push themselves to the limit, they have relied on each other to make it through. All of the aches, pain and sweat has bonded them into a cohesive unit.

    “Be the inspiration that inspired you to be here today,” Hernandez consistently reminds his students.

    The spirit of drumline and their legacy of excellence not only inspires the student section at Plano Football games, but also the future generations of students that are in middle school or at Clark or VInes.

     The competition took place on Saturday Sept. 23, and had four different categories to perform in.There was a soloist category, an ensemble category, a standstill category and a drumline show category. Seniors Andrew Deng and Patrick Tierney performed solos at the competition, Deng on the marimba and Tierney on tenors.