MONROE -- From a voyage out at sea to a day in the life of a soldier, every band that performed Saturday at Porter Ridge High School took visitors on a journey with its music and choreography.

At the fourth annual Pirate Cove Classic, 19 bands competed for – what else? – a pirate’s chest.

Representing 10 counties and two states, the bands each gave a performance surrounding a particular theme. The two big winners of the day were Dorman High School of Roebuck, S.C., which was named the grand champion, and Marvin Ridge High School, which received the H. James Hill Union County Band of Excellence distinction. Their themes were nautical and medieval respectively.

Nautical was a common theme for the day. Dorman titled their performance “The Voyage,” which follows a ship from its launch to dangerous waters. Props on the field displayed varying levels of intensity out at sea and a 25-foot ship.

“Judges are going to be looking at the coordination of the elements,” said Dave Bruce, band director. “They all should point toward that topic sentence.”

One of the heavier subjects of the day was portrayed by Piedmont High School’s band, which told the story of the soldier, beginning with daybreak and ending in Arlington cemetery.

“The last song is a memorial to the fallen soldier,” Amy Vitulli, assistant band director said. “The whole band is in crosses, and someone plays taps.”

Vitulli said someone will read the written work “Each Time You Tell Their Story” near the end. She added that the performance isn’t specific to one war because “too often that gets tied up in politics.”

Drum major Matt Corum, 17, said the piece is one of the hardest he’s performed in his five years of marching band.

“It’s a lot more intense. More emotional,” he said. “It’s the hardest piece we have ever done musicality and drill wise.”

To put students in the mind set for the serious performance, the band directors put the names of fallen World War II soldiers from Union County in each student’s hat.

Bruce and Vitulli said local competitions like the one Saturday give bands a chance to practice for larger ones. For instance, this is the last weekend before Vitulli’s band heads to Atlanta for the Bands of America Regional Championship.

“We came up with this show with the focus of going to Bands of America,” said Jody Lukac, Piedmont’s band director.

Porter Ridge’s band director Ian Faires said hosting the competition is one of the year’s biggest fundraisers for the school’s band.

Although the competition ran into some hiccups when it started to rain and the competition moved inside briefly, Faires deemed the day a success.

“We want it to be a positive experience for everyone,” he said. “I would like to see this be the premier contest for this date.”