Getting The Danvers High Band Back Together Again

DANVERS, MA – The Danvers High marching band was gearing up for what was expected to be one of the biggest days of the year amid the storied history of the celebrated program.

In less than a month, the 80 members of the band were scheduled to march out on to the Fenway Park diamond and play the national anthem in front of nearly 40,000 fans at an April Red Sox game. It was to be one of the highlights of a spring season set to include a spring concert and, for some members of the band, proms, awards nights and graduations.

"Obviously, that didn't happen because baseball didn't happen," Danvers Band Director Jeff Daniels told Patch.

Weeks before the Fenway gig, the band members joined their fellow students all across the state in being sent home from school for the rest of the academic year due to the pending coronavirus health crisis.

The bonds formed over instrument groups, a love of music and the sense of community that comes with being part of one of the school's biggest student organizations were tested as daily interaction was replaced with remote learning, Zoom calls and isolated solo practices in the basement as opposed to the rousing renditions that come when all parts of the band perform perfectly in concert.

"One of the biggest reasons kids join band is for that social structure," Daniels said. "We provide the same social structure as a sports team or a theater group. It was tough."

The band members got through it with weekly, instrument-specific virtual meetings. Some of those were about music and keeping skills sharp, but Daniels said most of them were about keeping the community aspects and the relationships within the band strong.

"It was fun getting to know the kids a little better in terms of the social aspect of things," Daniels said.

But it was hardly a substitute for the real thing. The events that the Danvers band would have performed in the spring were all canceled. There was no band camp that the program traditionally attends each summer.

Now, like school sports, the band is slowly and distantly getting back together.

Following state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines, the Danvers High concert band is making plans to meet outside, in small groups, with spacing 10 feet apart between players.

"We're being very cautious following all the state guidelines," Daniels assured. "There is no indoor playing. Anything we do has to be outside. But that works for marching bands because everything we do is outside."

Daniels said he is hopeful the small-group practices of 10 players or less in each location can follow the same timetable as the return of cross country, field hockey, golf and soccer games, which the Northeastern Conference is set to resume in early October.

"I think in the first initial reaction they were disappointed," Daniels said of the quarantine followed by the current restrictions. "That would be anyone's natural reaction. Now that it's settled in, they are excited to try some different things. We are trying to do whatever we can to make this experience enjoyable for them.

"They are excited for the possibility of the new adventures of, dare I say, a one-year departure from normalcy."

It certainly won't be a typical fall. The Topsfield Fair opening parade, which the band marched in for more than four decades, has been canceled along with the rest of the festival due to the coronavirus. The annual Thanksgiving football game — where the band would be the highlight of halftime — has been postponed to a possible "Fall 2" season starting in February with the annual holiday clash against Gloucester falling closer to Easter than Turkey Day itself.

Yet, Daniels said the band members are appreciating any chance for some of them to play together after spending most of the past six months playing apart.

"There are some people who hate playing alone," Daniels said. "Some don't even feel comfortable playing alone. Even myself, I would much rather enjoy playing with a group of people instead of play in bedroom alone.

"You are missing the baseline and the harmony. You are definitely missing a lot if you don't have everyone together."

And, while it could be some time before everyone is together for the program that can attract up to 100 players in some years, even having a few members back belting out the tunes outside, 10 feet away from each other, is something Daniels said the members are very much looking forward to enjoying together again.

"The kids are all practicing," Daniels said. "They are just excited to play. It varies from town to town. This is a national problem and some towns aren't doing anything.

"We are honored and lucky that we are back having band in some way."

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