Want to guess why we decided to visit Arizona?
Matt's band was invited to compete in
The Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship!
Wow, huh?
Mike and I went along too, on our own little mini-vacation. (Wait till you see the photos I have for you!)
But today, let's talk about the tournament....
It was held in the University of Phoenix stadium.

Awesome venue, huh?
Here's a cool fact for you -- it is a covered stadium with REAL grass.
How do they do that, you might wonder....?
Well, lemme tell ya.
The whole grass field rolls outside in the sunshine! The grass (with it's 12 inches of soil) grows on moveable giant 'cookie sheet.'
Here's a quick, time lapse video if you want to see the field roll in.
Anyway - back to the tournament.
We competed against bands from all over the United States.

They had a preliminary round and then the top seven bands came back that evening to compete again.



That snake eye formation is one of my favorites -
I had to take a picture of the scoreboard screen to show you how cool that looks
from high above.


Then came the awards ceremony....

and FIREWORKS!

"Live daringly, boldly, fearlessly. Taste the relish to be found in competition -- in having put forth the best within you" Henry J. Kaiser

































































