How the Beaufort Water Festival’s opening acts came together

Inside the band training facility on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, instruments were already packed in large black cases and ready to be loaded on a large truck Friday.

The Parris Island Marine Band was preparing to play the opening ceremonies of Beaufort Water Festival on Friday night. Fifteen songs were to make up the hour-long performance in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, one of hundreds of events the band of 50 Marines performs each year.

The polished product is the result of countless hours of work on top of typical duties required of Marines.

“Each Marine here has a lot of collateral duties that they do besides just showing up and playing an instrument and going home,” said Gunnery Sgt. Brad Rehrig, the band’s drum major. “A lot of things go into it.”

The band is part of the kickoff to the 10-day festival in Waterfront Park.

Fireworks were also part of the agenda.

Munnerlyn Pyrotechnics prepared 300 shells for the event, Brent Munnerlyn said. The Columbia-based business is a side job for the pharmacist, who is certified to conduct the displays.

The fireworks were loaded on a barge from Lady’s Island boat landing Friday morning to be transported across from the park before the show and remotely detonated. The approximately eight-minute show had a budget of $5,000, Munnerlyn said.

This was Munnerlyn’s first year working the show, he said.

The Parris Island Marine Band, formed more than 100 years ago, has become a staple of the Water Festival.

Becoming a band member is one of the few jobs in the Marines requiring some level of ability prior to recruitment, Rehrig noted. Six music technical assistants in each district interview and audition prospective applicants for the Marine Corps’ 10 regional bands.

Successful band recruits then go through boot camp and combat training and spend six months at the U.S. Navy School of Music in Virginia Beach, Va., before reporting to their respective bands.

The Parris Island Marine Band performs throughout the area east of the Mississippi River. In addition to more than 40 graduation ceremonies each year on the base, they perform various area parades and festivals and even sporting events.

The band has performed the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., for what is called a “patriotic opening.” In August, the band will travel to perform in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Parade in Canton, Ohio.

Set lists typically include traditional patriotic songs, including the “Marines’ Hymn,” “God Bless America,” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” The band also mixes in more modern tunes, like movie scores.

Booking the band typically requires at least three months’ notice. Events must be free and open to the public.

The Marine bands couldn’t perform a private wedding ceremony, for example, or a concert for which people paid admission.

Performance groups include the full concert band, the marching or ceremonial band, brass band, brass quintet, jazz combo, rock band and show band.

The full concert band — and its massive amount of equipment — was planned for the opening ceremony Friday. The performances are a staple of the Water Festival, festival productions coordinator Shawna Doran said.

“They’ve always been awesome,” Doran said. “This has always been one of my favorite nights, because it’s just such a sense of community and really shows what Beaufort’s about — how much the military and community intertwine and really support each other.”

Friday’s Water Festival will be the final performance for the band’s officer, Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Giove, who retired Thursday.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 3:28 PM with the headline "How the Beaufort Water Festival’s opening acts came together."