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 "Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Boston College Marching Band")
As summer ends, a new season begins - the Boston College football season, signaling the start of Mod tailgates, maroon and gold painted students, and, the most important part of football season, "Build Me Up Buttercup" sing-a-longs. The Screaming Eagles Marching Band began practicing its signature song, along with two new halftime shows and some new short songs, long before most students returned to campus to ensure its new routines would be ready for the first home football game.
"Our main performance is in the stands, and we try to play at every down," said Stephen Ronan, executive board member of the Marching Band and CSOM '05. Playing at every down is a unique characteristic of the BC band. The music that the band plays in the stands is crucial to maintaining the crowd's energy. While in the stands, the band controls the "pulse" of the student section. "There have been very close games that we have clearly affected, in terms of energy," he said.
Band camp lasted for 11 days before the academic year began, consisting of nine to 10 hours per day of rehearsal on campus. "We're really fortunate because we get to use our performance facility as a practice facility," said Ronan. He added that the Athletics Department was extremely helpful in scheduling band practice in Alumni Stadium.
"We've been on the rise for the past six years," said Ronan. The Marching Band recruits 2 percent of the undergraduate population, which is double the national average of band recruitment. The marching band is sixth in recruiting among bowl eligible teams.
Ronan, Darcy Roberts, LSOE '05, Alex Jung, A&S '05, and Serena Wong, A&S '06, make up this year's executive board. The student-run board is popularly elected by the band, which has about 190 members. The executive board is in charge of recruiting, managing section leaders, planning camp social activities, and scheduling.
David Healey, assistant director of the Bands Program and marching band director, chooses what material the band will perform, arranges the short selections, and decides rehearsal schedules. The entire Band Program is headed by Sebastian Bonaiuto and includes the Marching Band, BC bOp!, Concert Band, Pep Band, the chamber ensembles, and the competitive dance teams. Many students are members of multiple groups within the band program.
"We've kind of been developing this new vision for the whole band," said Ronan. This new vision includes a greater unity among the various division of the band program.
"We went to the Music City Bowl my freshman year against Georgia," said Ronan. At the Bowl, Ronan realized the difference between BC's marching style and other schools. "We're constantly moving and that really distinguishes us from other bands in our area."
There are two different half-time shows each year. This year the first show is "Beethoven's Ninth."
"We usually try to make the second show a little more accessible, a little more fun," said Ronan. This year's second show will be a mix of Gershwin and Frank Sinatra songs, including "My Way" and "Strike Up the Band." The band will also play a new set of '80s, and club music and snippets of "Living on a Prayer," "In da Club," the Mortal Kombat theme song, "Rock Me Amadeus," as well as its standards "Build Me Up Buttercup," "Hey Baby," and "Sweet Caroline."
The band performs at one away game per season; this year the team will play at the Wake Forest game. When the band went to Penn State last year, it played it front of 107,000 people - its largest audience ever. Last Saturday Penn State brought its entire band to BC's campus. "We always encourage visiting bands to come," said Ronan.
The Marching Band season is divided into three sections. The first section involves recruitment of incoming freshmen. "Recruiting is primarily a phone campaign," said Ronan. The student leadership of the band spends three days reviewing the incoming freshmen's applications, looking for students with musical experience, although they do not need prior marching band experience.
Band camp is the second part of the band's season. The last part begins when the football season kicks off. The band has three-hour practices twice a week and performs at games and pep rallies. Last Sunday, the band marched in a parade in Sutton, Mass. and will play at the First Year Academic Convocation tonight.
Throughout the year, the executive board of the band plans social events for band members. These social events help the band members to become a close-knit group. A social activity is planned for every night at band camp. "This year we did the band Olympics and we had games of knock-out, dodge ball, and relay races in the pool," said Wong.
"That's one of our main selling points," said Ronan. "There are few things you can do before people actually move in."
Everybody in the band knows each other and many of them become close friends. "My three roommates in Edmond's are in the band as well. We're definitely a tight-knit group," said Wong.
Some of the most important social events are held the night before the band has a competition. Members of the band cannot drink alcohol 24 hours before they perform, and the executive board provides events to encourage members to follow this rule. "We take how we represent the school very seriously," said Ronan.
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