Well it's all over...
What a fantastic season. From last year in September to seeing our second consecutive trip to Scotland come to fruition, to making it home safe and sound, I can't believe it went so fast.
I think my favorite accomplishment of this year was that we did it. We made it back. I was on the plane from London to Edinburgh and it finally hit me that we had pulled it off, and we were going back. I could tell we were suddenly being considered part of the serious competitors club when we started bumping into other bands who were surprised to see us but very complimentary of our last season.
Am I disappointed...? I've been asked a few times since arriving home.
The answer is yes. How could you not be? We traveled thousands of kilometers and performed for 5 minutes to find out we weren't going through.
But, there's always a but... I'm also very pleased with what we learned out of not qualifying. I personally think we learned more from the result this year than we did last year.
It was crushing to have to look at my young corp and tell them we didn't go through. They acted with more maturity than most 50 year olds might, and I couldn't be more proud. If anything they made me feel better.
I feel that when your corp does everything you asked, and they don't go through, it's on you. You're the one telling them what to play, how to play, and it is your vision of perfection they're trying to realize. So when things don't go your way, it's on your shoulders.
After finally sucking up my disappointment I made my way to the beer tent to see my band and make sure my corp wasn't taking things to hard. The drummers weren't there, every side was over watching the final, trying to learn as much as they could for next season. The tenors made sure to come over to me and show me their smiles. My girls always know how to cheer me up, and sure enough I realized that though they were disappointed, they were also determined. Determined to improve for next year.
Too often I hear bands blame judges. Not these people, these people simply wanted to get better. Not one person asked me what went wrong. They just said "we'll fix whatever it is and be back next year". I'm so proud.
We have a ton of work to do in the upcoming season. But it will be fun. The new and improved SASPB will come out looking, sounding, and playing different, but we'll stay true to our style and music, and our people.
I plan on building the corp. With friends from Ireland, and local players, we will play a bigger corp, cleaner. More tenors, to match the size of the pipe corp. Generally, we won't take a single step backwards... only forwards.
Despite what feels a bit like disappointment, I'm feeling more excited every minute, a new season is upon us, a clean slate.
Thank you to the band, from Wes and I. You took what could have been a disaster and made it into a chance to learn, and improve. We're very proud of you all, and believe it or not, I kinda wish we had practice tomorrow night ;)
Cheers,
Sean
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