By Naomi Nguyen
From Nov. 8 to Nov. 10, Fountain Valley Royal Regiment relocated to Las Vegas to compete in the Western State Competition. With the same Waterworld film theme the FVRR had done in 1997, the band swept the competition, placing first in music, marching, and showmanship along with first place overall.
To fit the Waterworld mood, Wampler states, “We dressed up in special costumes, special props, and played Waterworld music. We kept the theme throughout the show.”
Members seemed to enjoy the theme, like Sohyeon Kwon (’15) who laughed as she said, “And the bandos got to all do makeup themselves and do crazy hair and color guard helped us too,”
The band spent their nights in the Hampton Inn and while most of the time was spent rehearsing and competing, there was still some free time for the hardworking members to enjoy.
But the band couldn’t have won without the hours of rehearsal they put in. “We’ve been practicing since the beginning of summer,” states member Anthony Nguyen (’15). “Once school started we practiced 3 days a week and Saturdays sometimes.”
The band has been winning competitions all year, and it has won every 5A tournament this year, including the 6A super large band division. These include tournaments at West High School, Kennedy High School, Westminster High School, and many others.
The band has a competition Nov. 16 at Glover Savana High School and the championships on Nov. 23 at Ramona High School.
