We are going to our third football game this week, our first away game in fact. And with the third game comes the third performance of The Weight of the Mind.

The Weight of the Mind is this year’s Wolfpack Marching Band halftime show, featuring music from Dantes Inferno, Linkin Park, and The Rolling Stones as well as an epic drum break. The show follows the story of internal pressure when someone shuts down mentally and emotionally.

A few weeks before school began, our band director, Mrs. Ledford, hosted band camp for a week straight. Students learned their marching fundamentals, their drills, and their music. It was a lot of hard work, between outside practice under the Florida sun, and inside practice in the band room, but they all got through it and look where they are now!

The band has gained a lot of new members this year, with so many new rookies. “I think that we hit the ground running, and this year is going to be one of the most incredible seasons,” Mrs. Ledford noted.

Now the band did have some struggles. With camp being at the end of summer break, the heat was brutal. But they combated it with frequent water breaks under the tents provided by the band parents, the mid-practice breaks inside the auditorium, and by having the outdoor portion of camp in the mornings before the afternoon heat set in.

“It is a collaborative team effort where every single person in the band is a first string player. Nobody sits on the bench in marching band.” The first day of camp can be one of the hardest days. It introduces the rookies to the rigor that is marching band. But, even with that rigor, almost everyone stuck with it, now forming the 88 member marching band.

“You are going to hear something that you’ve never heard before coming out of Wolfson.” The Weight of the Mind is a difficult show, but the band is tackling it piece by piece. Everyone in the band has been working extremely hard and every time they come together, they improve. Every week they’re adding something new to the show, whether it be a new part of the music, a new visual, or more drill.

Keep it up band! And as always, go pack!