Bond-ing experience

Bond. James Bond.

From the drum major salute with a twirling Emma LeMaster next to a dapper Gabe Pinkerton to a series of silhouettes along the back of the field, everything about the Marching Patriots’ 2024 repertoire evokes the name.

Jay County High School’s marching band show — “You Know My Name” — is built around the iconic themes of the James Bond films.

The show idea came from a track of the same name, which is the opening of the Daniel Craig movies in the long-running film franchise.

“I’ve always loved it,” said JCHS band director Chuck Roesch. “His version of James Bond is a lot different than Shawn Connery, Roger Moore and even Pierce Brosnan … He’s a lot more aggressive. The movies reflect the culture. The movies are a lot more action based and not so much spy/thriller. …

“That song is just so aggressive and grungy that I’ve always been drawn to it.”

“You Know My Name” is the closing number for the Marching Patriots’ show, with “Writings on the Wall” from the 2015 movie “Spectre” as the “opening credits” followed by the original James Bond Theme. “Skyfall,” from the 2012 film of the same name, serves as the ballad.

Alex Yoder arranged all of the pieces for the band — Caleb Garringer on mellophone and Joseph Boggs on baritone are the featured soloists — with Roesch then building the drill off of the music. His goal, he said, was to capture the essence of Bond, including swirly forms that invoke the idea of the octopus that is Spectre’s logo.

There is also a lot of casino imagery, most obviously via the flags used by the color guard. The opening deep red flags display the four suites of a deck of cards. Other flags show the face cards, utilize the deep green felt of poker tables and include various references to Bond. (All of them took their backgrounds from the opening credits of the 2006 film “Casino Royale.”)

The color guard members wear tuxedo-themed uniforms and the drum majors are dressed to the nines in true Bond fashion.

“It’s a very class show, obviously,” said drum major Emma LeMaster, referencing her own sparkling red gown and fellow drum major Gabe Pinkerton’s tuxedo. “It’s definitely different from what we’ve done in the past.”

While the show has a Bond theme, it’s not a spy story. There is no James Bond character on a mission. 

Instead, it is meant to draw the audience into a Bond world.

“It’s basically gonna be capturing a lot of the action … and excitement from the movies without actually having a character and a story line,” said Roesch. “I think what we’re really gonna be doing with this show is just taking you into the world of James Bond.”

There are little touches throughout.

One of LeMaster’s favorites is when the band members take a moment to fix their cuffs.

“It definitely goes along with our show,” she said.

“It’s the classic James Bond,” added Pinkerton. “You get out of the rubble and you adjust the cuff, adjust the bow tie and keep going on.”

It marks the second time in the Marching Patriots’ long history that they have presented a James Bond-themed show. The other was in 2002, when the group finished second at the Indiana State Fair and earned the caption award for best music. It featured the James Bond Theme from the “Goldfinger” and “Nobody Does it Better” films along with “You Only Live Twice” and “Live & Let Die.”