The Star Trek Marching Band
One of the most underrated parts of JJ Abrams’ new Star Trek movie in 2009 was the way Michael Giacchino managed to create a completely new score, that still felt indelibly like Trek. It really captured the spirit of exploration and adventure, in a haunting and brilliant melody. It’s so good, it even works when played by a marching band.
That theory was tested in 2010 when the UT Arlington Marching Band had the balls to enter a competition doing an entirely Star Trek themed presentation. They incorporated several different Trek scores but it’s all anchored by Giacchino’s fantastic music. Here’s the video I stumbled across this morning. Watch them geek out on the field…
I just can’t get enough of that score and their geeky band-nerd take on it is nearly flawless. It’s particularly brilliant at the end, with the trumpets belting out the music and the band marching towards the stands. It’s worth having a sequel just to hear it in theaters, one more time.
UT Arlington isn’t of course the first marching band to play Trek music, but it’s rare for a band to anchor its entire competition around how well it boldly goes.
But here’s another example of Trek marching with a drum line. In this 2006 video, Patrick Stewart even got involved, conducting the Michigan Marching Band…
