The AHS Golden Sandie band takes halftime back to the ’60s with its show for the 2023-2024 season: British Invasion.
The band directors Robert Hinds, Scott Myers and Sara Rhynes spent countless hours working with students to make this year’s presentation as good as possible in pursuit of placing in the State Marching Contest this marching season. This year’s show, written and choreographed by BJ Brooks with the color guard dressed and choreographed by Rhynes, demonstrates the idea of uniqueness.
“I was trying to think of music that hasn’t been done in a while,” Hinds said. “I realized that I have not heard a Beatles marching show in a long time, so I thought ‘Let’s put Beatles and Gustav Holst together and call it British Invasion.”
The show’s title is inspired by British composers and pop artists from the 19th century through the ‘60s. Some of the songs incorporated into the show include pop classics such as “Hey Jude” and “Elenor Rigby” by the Beatles along with “Mars” and “First Suite in E Flat” by Gustav Holst.
“My favorite part of the show this year is part two,” Myers said. “It’s just really pretty. There are a lot of really nice arrangement techniques incorporated into it.”
The band students practiced and rehearsed since before school started to learn the music while the color guard learned choreography to help convey the concept of the show to the audience.
“I like the show concept a lot,” Rhynes said. “It’s going to be really fun for the audience as well. I love the “Hey Jude” ballad. I think it was written very well and will be effective. A big goal for the color guard this year is to communicate with the audience more while performing. I think this is the perfect show to do that in a fun way.”

Although this year presents the opportunity to compete at State, that is not the primary focus of the work put into the show. The point of the show is to deliver a satisfying halftime production that both the students and the audience enjoy watching.
“Some major goals for this year are for the band to give performances that our audiences enjoy, our students enjoy performing, and that keep us competitive with the other bands,” Myers said.
Goals for this marching season remain high, and the band continues to practice and perform with every intention of reaching them.

“I want to push the band to be its very best,” Hinds said. “Our student leaders have done a great job helping to get the band off to a great start! I am looking forward to a fun season!”