Although it’s not possible to go back in time, every now and then, it is possible to experience the nostalgia of yesteryear.

The Southeast Alabama Community Band will offer the community a Norman Rockwell kind of experience Monday night on the square in downtown Troy.

Monday night’s concert will be a “gather round the flag” kind of event, said Peter Howard, a longtime member of the community band.

“The concert will be a patriotic concert, with lots of marches, especially John Philip Sousa marches,” Howard said. “These will be familiar marches, like ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’ and ‘Semper Fidelis.’ The band will also play familiar marches by Henry Fillmore and circus marches. Music that makes people happy.”

The Southeast Alabama Community Band concert’s hour-long concert will begin at 6:30 and everyone is invited to bring a picnic supper, lawn chairs or blankets and flags to wave.

“This will be a very informal concert,” Howard said. “If the kids want to march around waving flags, that would be wonderful. We might even invite one or two of them to lead the band.”
The Southeast Alabama Community Band has about 60 members who come from all across the state and from several states and from all backgrounds.

“We have doctors, lawyers, teachers, retired military, business people, students, anyone who enjoys playing music,” Howard said. “We begin practicing for our concert season in January and we practice every Monday night. It’s a commitment but we all enjoy playing band music. Nobody gets paid for playing or for traveling. We don’t want pay; we just want to play.”

The Southeast Alabama Community Band concert will be part of the two-band, kick-off event for TroyFest 2018 set for April 28 and 29 on the square in downtown Troy.

Immediately following the community band concert Monday night, Troy University’s band, POPulus, will take center stage around 8 p.m.

The TroyFest Kick-Off concerts are free and the community is invited.

The event is sponsored by the City of Troy.