Marching Crusaders Take Off to London for Trip of a Lifetime

In less than 24 hours, the Marching Crusaders will land in jolly old England and begin what promises to be the trip of a lifetime for each and every member.  

One of only a handful of American marching bands – the first official event to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and London's 2012 Olympic year – will have the added honor of participating in both the parade’s grand finale and a command performance at Cadogan Hall, the home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

“The concert band portion I am really looking forward to as a musician,” said LCN senior drum major Alexis Stempien. “Performing at Cadogan Hall is one of those things that’s much larger than yourself and you can’t quite grasp how serious it is.

“I honestly never expected anything like the mass band finale to present itself either, so on top of the honor to travel and be in the parade, the added finale is absolutely astounding.”

More than 10,000 performers representing 20 countries will assemble for the parade, which will march some of London’s most famous thoroughfares, including Piccadilly Circus, Waterloo Place, Trafalgar Square and Parliament Street. 

When the band is not performing in the parade, or at the Royal Philharmonic Hall, students will be sightseeing.

“We’ll do a bus tour of the city when we get there, and the kids will have access to the Tower of London as well as Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey,” said LCN band director Jeremy Duby. “We’ll also visit the Roman baths and see Stonehenge for a full day.”

Another half day will be spent in Windsor, where students will have an opportunity to tour the castle, the Royal Family’s weekend escape, and shop for souvenirs.

Stempien, who is one of many Crusaders traveling abroad for the first time, is looking forward to the walking tours and soaking in as much history and culture as the band’s six-day excursion allows.

“I am oddly interested in seeing the Tower of London, and all history associated with it, and from an American perspective, nothing is more English than sitting in London and sipping a cup of tea,” she said.

An avid video journalist and Macomb Patch blogger, Stempien plans to use both video camera and print journal from beginning to end.

“It’s a great way to end my high school career,” she added.

As for director Duby, he hopes the trip will be as educational as it is memorable for his students.

“I hope they leave with a more open mindedness of how they view their world,” he said. “When you go to Europe and see different cultures, it opens your eyes to how things run – politically, socially and in all aspects of life. I want them to absorb as much of that as they can so they can see beyond their own little world and how things run outside of that."

Watching the Parade

For American viewers, the parade starts at 6:45 a.m. (11:45 a.m. London time) and is roughly three hours long.

Local TV stations have the option to broadcast the event in whole or in part, but at the time of this publication, none had contacted the parade's public relations department to request such a broadcast.

However, Dan Kirkby, communications director of the parade, said there is still time for local networks to make a broadcast request. He urges local viewers to contact their local TV stations with this request.

Major broadcasters such as CNN, Fox news, SKY, BBC and CBS are expected to cover portions of the event as part of regular news coverage.

If you miss the band marching the route itself, be sure to tune in for the grand finale, when LCN will join a select few other bands to perform American patriotic music, The Beatles, James Bond, Pomp and Circumstance and God Save the Queen.

Parade Facts

• The Parade route is: Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, Lower Regent Street, Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, Cockspur Street, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Street.
• This year's 2012 parade will be the 26th Anniversary of the New Year's Day Parade in London.
• More than half a million are expected to watch the parade en route.
• The route is two miles long.
• This is the first official event in a year of celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and London's 2012 Olympic year.
• The 2012 parade theme is The Olympics & The Diamond Jubilee.