Nine area marching bands are slated to perform at Madison City Stadium starting at noon

MADISON – An exciting, new event will premiere in Madison with the Rocket City Marching Invitational this Saturday.

Bob Jones High School Marching Patriots are presenting the contest for bands to impress the audience and panel of judges with their music charts, field formations, color guard pageantry and synchronized dance moves. The invitational will open at noon.

The marching bands from Huntsville, Grissom, Muscle Shoals, JPII, Madison Academy, Elkmont, Athens and Buckhorn will join Bob Jones in filling Madison City Stadium with music and visual art through their performances.

The bands will compete in numerous categories. They will perform continuously until all have marched. In the finale, judges will announce ratings and students from each band will accept their awards on the field.

Leigh Thomas is Director of Bands at Bob Jones. Kevin Smart is Assistant Director and directs the percussion line.

From the preliminary competition, students can earn trophies for both performance and “Best in Class” in categories for drum major, color guard, dance, majorette, percussion and overall band.

The top eight overall scores, regardless of class, will advance to finals. Overall scores are weighted with music at 50 percent; visual at 30 percent; and 20 percent for general effect.

In the finals, awarding differs slightly. Bands will receive awards based on best overall performance by drum major; visual ensemble, which includes guard, dance and majorette; percussion; visual; music; and general effect.

Bands with the top three scores overall will earn first-, second- and third-place awards. Other bands in the finals also receive awards. The audience will choose and vote for ‘fan favorite.’