Jay performs 'Sideshow' act

Different. Unexpected. Mystical.

They are perhaps not words typically associated with band. But Marching Patriots have embraced them this summer.

Jay County High School hopes to catch the eyes of fans and judges alike at Saturday’s Indiana State Fair Band day with its focus on the secondary, the diversion, the spectacle — their “Sideshow.”

“It’s completely different than anything we’ve done before,” said senior drum major Katelyn Harris.

The idea grew out of the band staff’s annual December meeting to discuss the upcoming season. Composer Alex Yoder had seen Carmel perform a show with a Carnival theme a few years ago, and that got the staff thinking about the circus and the performers — sword swallowers, snake charmers, fortune tellers — that came along with it. They decided to build on that theme — it didn’t hurt that it connected well with the recent success of the movie “The Greatest Showman” — and kept coming back to a particular song on which to base their arrangement.

“If you listen to the original Duke Ellington tune, ‘Caravan,’ it is very, very strange,” said JCHS band director Kelly Smeltzer. “Ellington was really into experimenting with colors of instruments and getting sound effects. … It led toward a mysterious sound.”

The show is anything but typical, right from the beginning.

As the band marches on, drum majors Kaitlyn Dow, Ashlyn Dow and Harris, dressed as ringmasters, wave to the crowd. But of a group of 120, only they, the percussionists, a handful of color guard members and a lone trumpet player are visible, adding an air of mystery.

“Ladies and gentlemen, come one, come all,” a voiceover calls as Collin Haines plays the part of carnival barker. “Step right up to see the mysterious, the unknown. One show only. It’s the Jay County traveling sideshow. Get your tickets now.”

The music opens with Joe Atienzo’s trumpet solo, accompanied by percussion. He plays with a Harmon mute, creating a haunting sound and introducing the musical themes of the show.

Then, from train cars lining the rear of the performance area, out burst the rest of the Marching Patriots, waving, spinning, beckoning the crowd to see what their “Sideshow” has to offer. It’s that entrance, that reveal, that lifting of the veil that is the favorite part of the show for many of the Marching Patriots.

“Everyone is just running around and showcasing what they think the sideshow people were like,” said Harris. “So it’s like everyone has their own character.”

“I love jumping and waving to the crowd and seeing their reaction,” agreed senior trumpet player Candler Hedges. “I think this show is one of the most theatrical shows we’ve done. I really love adding a lot of these freeform moves into it.”

The first section of the show then features homages to the snake charmers, sword swallowers and fire eaters. The second focuses on the fortune teller, with Haines returning to the 50-yard line to portray the soothsayer. And the final section serves as a tribute to the sideshow as a whole.

Along with the visuals from Haines, the color guard and the marching, the music serves to tell the sideshow story. After Atienzo leads off, the first section features a driving samba style with woodwinds driving the melody and then big brass hits. The middle section is more melodic — “ethereal,” says Smeltzer — with band members singing and then mellophones and alto saxophones gradually joining in. The final section features a solo keyboard and then a build to a big hit with band members dancing before turning their backs to the crowd as they prepare to depart on their train for the next town.

“It’s kind of the essence of mystery — what’s behind the tent?” said Harris. “I kind of feel like it’s leading to what’s behind the essence of Jay County also.”