From its jazz ensemble to its color guard, "Stars Wars" tribute performances to band member meal trains, the 120-member Triangle Pride Band strikes an energizing community chord.
When Adrian and Bee Powers moved to Raleigh from Tennessee in April 2023, they were eager to get involved in the community. In search of an activity the couple would both love, Bee took to perusing queer community groups on Facebook.
"We've both been in band since we were in middle school, high school," Adrian explains. "We met in band in college, so as soon as we saw [Triangle Pride Band], we were like, 'Oh, yeah -- we're doing that.'"
The couple promptly dropped in on a rehearsal and, right off the bat, say they felt like part of the band.
"It was amazing for us to be so welcomed in," Adrian says.
The community element wasn't simply a good first impression: Not even a year after joining, Adrian went through top surgery, a chest reconstruction procedure meant to enhance one's gender expression. At the time, he was a percussionist, a position that involved repetitive arm motions -- movement that was sure to disturb the healing scars on his chest.
He made the decision to step away from Triangle Pride Band for that cycle but soon discovered some of the pieces the band was performing had piano parts, an instrument not usually included within the band.
"They let me be on one song that cycle on piano, just because I wanted to be a part of it," Adrian says with a smile. "There was a fluidity there, an understanding [of what] I was going through."
The weight of being queer in North Carolina can be heavy. Our state is the birthplace of the first modern bathroom bill controversy, the ricochets of which continue to be felt nationally. The deeply homophobic and transphobic rants of gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson can be heard in clickbait form, over and over again, in commercials this election season.
It can be easy to forget that being gay or gender non-conforming is a joyful, euphoric thing. The Triangle Pride Band, though, offers enduring proof of the beauty of queerness. And proof there is! Hear the screams of the crowd from one concert, last summer, in which the parent of a band member dressed up in full Darth Vader cosplay during a Star Wars tribute. Or, if you're of the more statistical disposition, consider the 300,000 likes on TikTok for the band's "Slay Ride" rendition of "Sleigh Ride."
Eight short years into its reimagined state, the Triangle Pride Band has skyrocketed from 30 members to 120 -- a quick rise that has made other Pride Bands Alliance curious about the band's key to success.
"Bands from all over the country are being like, 'Tell us how you're getting engagement the way you are,'" artistic director Alex Alberti says. Beyond the general symphonic band, there is also a jazz ensemble, a color guard, a choir, and various smaller group ensembles -- and, to offer an accommodating entry point, no audition is necessary.
The Triangle Pride Band has a reputation for becoming what the community needs it to be. It began in 1987 as the North Carolina Pride Marching Band, a lesbian drum corps entrenched in Latin and African-style percussion. It had a rebirth in 1997 as a standard marching band and then, in 2016, became the Triangle Pride Band when other LGBTQ+-focused ensembles seemed to have fizzled out.
The support that the Powers experienced extends past rehearsals and into members' personal lives: One long-time band veteran and member of the board set up a meal train for Adrian during his recovery, he says.
"We had too much food!" Adrian says, recounting how band members he hadn't yet met dropped meals off. "What an amazing complaint to have."
Adrian had felt radically accepted by band members, unexpectedly so, and says he found himself eager to do what he could for the organization that had welcomed him with open arms. With years of undergraduate choral experience under his belt, Adrian reached out to Alex Alberti, one of the band's artistic directors, and asked if there was interest in a choir. There was, and the Triangle Pride Band's choir was formed.
Chuck Stanley hadn't picked up a cornet in 30 years, prior to joining the Triangle Pride Band. In 2022, he saw a Reddit post from Alberti advertising a new band cycle. He jumped right in. Soon after, a conversation about introducing a jazz band popped up in one of the ensembles' GroupMes. The group agreed it was a good idea, leaving only one question: Who would lead? Stanley was a shoo-in. He'd been playing jazz since he was 12, and like Adrian, studied it while in college.
"There was a chance, an opportunity, and a need," Stanley says. "At a time when jazz clubs are closing all around the Triangle, very few of them are opening, and they're having trouble staying open. The community is looking for it."
The jazz ensemble officially started in the spring, and by the summer, it had climbed to around twenty members.
"When I joined that September, I immediately felt welcomed," Stanley says. "I felt like I was a part of something ... [I felt like] I've got to give time, money, and make sure that this whole thing succeeds."
The constant external expansion and development, the internal growth and support, would not be possible without Alberti. He wears all sorts of hats -- he's a composer, a judge for the International Competition for Collegiate A Cappella, and is in a local a cappella group himself, on top of maintaining a full-time job in education technology and having been the creative director for the symphonic band since February 2020.
Yes, since that February. It could have been a grim story, but Alberti's strong, exuberant positivity defied potential pessimism. Stanley matched his energy with a softened wisdom and devotion to his peers.
When asked about starting his position at the same time as Covid turned everything upside down, Alberti expressed to me how fun it was to meet up masked, outside. "We'd play through stand tunes, like pep band music. We also had a color guard pop up and be really popular at that time!"
When asked about the withdrawal of RuPaul's Drag Race star, Stacy Layne Matthews, from their summer concert due to an injury, Alberti replied, "We are excitedly having her rescheduled for next June, we know she'll be a blast in emceeing and performing numbers to the show as well!" Stanley picked up where he left off, adding that her absence, while sad, allowed a member of the band, Franny Starlight, to take her place and celebrate truly local drag.
And, when Alberti brings up the increased toxicity that trans members of the band are facing in the outside world, he doesn't linger on the fear long.
"Members of the trans community feel like they can come and be themselves without any explanation," he says. "You come in and you say, 'This is me. These are my pronouns,' and everyone, excitedly, validates that person's identity and lifts them up."
"There have been members who have decided within the safety of this group, they were able to make the choice to change their pronouns," Stanley adds.
Even if you're not a performer with Triangle Pride Band, it's a great time to be a fan. Triangle Pride Chorus has its second-ever concert, "Let Me Listen: Stories That Connect Us," on October 26 at White Plains United Methodist Church and tickets are available now! The symphonic band and the jazz band both have performances open to the public in December -- keep an eye on their social media for more information. Their "Slay Ride" will be making an appearance, and fans will be for sale in the lobby if you're not bringing your own.
Beyond that, next summer we can expect a collaboration with the pride of the NC drag scene, Stacy Layne Matthews, and for its 10th anniversary, the band is commissioning a world-premiere symphony on the wonders and whimsy of our beloved North Carolina.
Gay or straight, trans or cis, musician or supporter, the members of Triangle Pride Band hold their hands out to you and are ready to welcome. As the Southern cultural climate grows hotter and tenser, the Triangle Pride Band matches that fervor with their own exuberance, and with the volume of their music does their damndest to drown out the negativity.