"Louie, Louie"

Part way through the “Antigua Cuscatlan” course on our weekly Saturday morning run, my complejo running crew and I were detoured from the normal route when we happened upon a marching band that appeared to be preparing for a parade. As we rounded the corner, it became apparent that this was more than a parade. It was the inaugural event of a ginormous marching band competition. We decided to stop and soak up the spontaneous culture that had suddenly immersed us.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me because there were definitely some photo-worth images to capture. I’ll do my best to paint them for you:

-Swarms of baton girls in short, short, short skirts, stiletto boots up to their thighs, thick makeup and hair as long as their skirts were short.
-Groups of girls in traditional Salvadoran dress that danced out front
-Bands composed of half percussion, a quarter trombones and a quarter trumpets-80% male
-Many of the girls in the band still marched in heels!
-First song that the first band played as they started to march, “Play that funky music white boy” (I believe this would be an appropriate opportunity to use the term ironic.)

In the midst of pounding drums, semi-straight lines and marking time the marching band aficionado in me, which typically lies dormant, was activated. Suddenly, I was dying to know if these bands did actual field shows or simply marched in a multitude of festivals and parades. After repeatedly musing aloud to my running companions, I decided to go up to one of the directors and ask in my more stilted than usual Spanish. (I may have been more fluid had I prepped myself with the words “show”,”perform”, and “parade”, however I’m confident that my gesturing and descriptive skills have improved dramatically since arriving in El Salvador. I sometimes feel like it’s like a never-ending game of Catch Phrase!) I walked away about 60% sure that he understood me and replied that they do perform shows.

Later that afternoon, I made an outing of walking to the store to get some pots and pans and was pleasantly surprised to find that they DO in fact perform shows. In fact, the competition was taking place in the parking lot! After my shopping, I was able to stand under the portable canopies to watch for about 10 minutes (before darkness forced me home) and see one band do most of their set which opened with “Louie Louie”. It brought a smile to my face that even though I may be in El Salvador, marching bands still love “Louie, Louie”! I’m not sure how they were able to create their formations with no marks on the parking lot, but they did! A fellow spectator informed me that this was the premier competition for the entire country and that parking lots are their typical performance venue. While I wouldn’t characterize the performance as in-tune, in-step or polished, I would describe it as earnest, passionate, and enthusiastic and a true treat to experience!

It may not feel like fall here, and I may not see any football games, but I did get my “Festival of Bands” fall marching band fix with a Salvadoran twist! :)