It is that time of year again. Friday night lights, weekend competitions and student music.
Clearview Regional High School marching band and pep band has been preparing since early July for its busy fall season.
The marching band, which is open to students grades 9 through 12, will compete its field show, “Things that Go Bump in the Night,” in the New Jersey Marching Band Directors Association (NJMBDA) annual contest.
“It’s a little bit of a darker show, a little bit of a different vibe than the last couple of (shows) we’ve done,” band director Tyler Wiernusz said at the marching and pep band’s Summer Music Showcase on September 2.
Wiernusz, who has been with Clearview for a decade, said the new field program is filled with familiar tunes from Disney’s “Fantasia,” Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous piano sonata “Moonlight” and even a snippet of pop star Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.”
“It’s a pretty unique show, lots of cool visuals, lots of interesting things,” he said.
At the showcase, the marching band and its color guard performed a portion of the show. Due to heavy rain, they opted to perform in place rather than march across the field.
Clearview Regional High School Marching Band’s color guard spins flags, rifles and sabres in its 2026 field show.
The marching band is still weeks out until its first NJMBDA contest. However, the students displayed a quality performance that is indicative of their hard work over summer rehearsals and two weeks of band camp.
The first installment of the contest is Clearview’s home show on Saturday, September 19, where the band will be the final high school band to perform. The day begins at 5 p.m., and Clearview will perform around 8 p.m. Rowan University’s marching band will close out the event.
The marching band will then compete at Williamstown High School on September 26, Millville High School on October 3 and the NJMBDA Class Championships at Piscataway High School on October 24. The NJMBDA State Championship Garden State Cup will be on November 1 and held at the College of New Jersey.
Last season, the marching band placed in 5th in its class with its show “Oz,” influenced by “The Wizard of Oz.”
In addition to competition, the marching band performs its show at home and away football games, as well. During football games, the rest of Clearview’s pep band joins the marching band in the stands to play pep songs throughout the game. The pep band welcomes 8th grade students and 9th through 12th grade students not involved in marching band.
The pep band performed a handful of its songs at the beginning of the Summer Music Showcase. Some of the band’s classic songs are “Hey Song,” “Crazy in Love,” “Crazy Train” and the Clearview fight song titled “On Wisconsin,” which also is the University of Wisconsin’s fight song.
“Judging by the first game last week, you might here this quite a bit if you come to football games,” Wiernusz said, as the football team beat Cumberland High School in its first game of the season on August 28 with a score of 27-8.
Go to www.viewband.org to learn more about the marching and pep bands and to see its fall schedule.
Clearview Regional High School pep band and marching band performed previews of its 2026 football game pep songs and competitive field show on September 2 in its Summer Music Showcase.
