MORGANTOWN, WV (WOAY)- The first time a collegiate band member enters the stadium on game day, it’s a moment they will never forget. What audiences see at the stadium is only the end result of the band’s work.
The band’s game day starts hours before kickoff, sometimes even before the sun rises. The students and staff work tirelessly to clean pre-game and halftime so they can put their best foot forward.
“It was well needed. I really like to prepare before doing anything in front of a crowd. So it was a great opportunity to, you know, get a feel of what we’re actually up for up against this game,” said Jessica Berry, a rookie colorguard member.
After rehearsal, the band goes to eat, takes a moment, and prepares to step off. With their capes and equipment ready, each section heads up to the hill to warm up before the parade. As we get closer and closer to kickoff, Piper Dangerfield is at a loss for words.
“It’s kinda hitting me, yeah. It’s surreal. So I’m just going with the punches,” said Dangerfield, a rookie piccolo player.
This is the moment the students really get into the mindset that the game is here and they have a job to do. The anticipation of 60,000 people watching is beginning to hit.
“I’m very excited, very excited. But I am terribly nervous. Just to see all the crowd, we’ve been talking so much about how how packed the stadium is. But I have yet to really see that with my own eyes,” said Cooper Gibson, a rookie piccolo player. “So to see everybody there and cheering for us and looking at us is going to be real scary.”
With nerves and excitement, they march on, ready to bring Mountaineer Pride to Milan Puskar Stadium. The time is now; the hard work of band camp and the preparation have led to this moment. The fans are ready for them, and they are ready for the fans.
To open the show that is college football, the band did the time honored tradition of pre-game.
“Pregame is my favorite. I would say like, compared to our halftime routines, because it’s just so I mean, it’s set in stone. It’s not been touched in a while,” said Berry. “And so I would have to say my favorite song is ‘Simple Gifts’ the fact that when beautiful a circle and, you know, like a little tap up and you have different color silks for like different numbers and it’s just really intricate. It’s a nice moment to, like, after we’ve done ‘Fight Mountaineers Mountain Dew.’ It’s a good moment to, like, breathe a second and then run right back up there and continue to till we’re done.”
After the pre-game, it’s time to keep the spirit going by playing tunes to keep the fans and team hyped up during the game.
Then halftime hits. It’s the opportunity to give the audience a moment to de-stress from the game and just enjoy where they are. When they take the field, it’s like nothing else matters.
“Whenever you get out there and you don’t think too, too much about it, you’ll normally just kind of as soon as I count off. One, two, one, two. You’re locked in and nothing else,” said Gibson. “I can’t see anybody else. I can’t, I’m just going and my feet are moving. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
The feeling is so overwhelming that it feels like you’ve forgotten everything you ever learned.
“It was amazing. I stepped on that field, and I’m pretty sure I forgot half the notes. So most of it was me. I’m just, like, trying to get to my dot. I’m like, what are my notes? But I got to my dots. I was fine, I remembered most of the music,” said Dangerfield. “And then at the very end, you’re just sitting there like you. I just did a whole half time show. Now it’s time to leave the field and finish this game.”
Though in an unexpected turn of events, severe weather came in and the second half of the game was delayed. During this delay, both the Pride of West Virginia and the Penn State Blue Band made the most of it by using this time to talk and share stories.
After the almost 2.5-hour delay, the game continues. With the team trailing behind at the start of the second half, the band brought on the music to rev up the crowd. While the game wasn’t in WVU’s favor, the band will always win because they are doing what they love for a university they take so much pride in.
Due to the weather delay, I couldn’t finish the game with them, so I caught up with them on Zoom to get their final thoughts on their experience.
“It was it was way different than high school. Like they have such a different expectation of you than they do in high school. And it was just a lot,” explained Dangerfield.
“I’ll say that I saw completely different sides of people that I had previously like gotten to meet over band camp and everything. I got to see a whole new side of people where they were going crazy. Game day, you know, jumping up and down. I’ve never seen some of those people be that loud, but game day, it brought something out in them,” said Gibson.
“We will have to agree because the tunnel. I mean they were getting and I was okay like this. You know I think that was very interesting,” said Berry. “Definitely kind of call my nerves to some point because I’m like, okay, everyone’s having fun before you have to do 220 out there. So, you know, like, I was okay, everything’s gonna be all right. These people know what to do. I know what to do. Just got to get on the field and, like, perform.”
While it was only the first game, they still have more experiences coming their way. However, they want to share this with current high school band members.
“If you get the chance to do collegiate marching band, do it. I don’t care if you are a business major pre-med, do it. We talked about it, the reward, the travel, and, you know, it’s everything. You don’t have to go into a music field to enjoy the community and the activity,” said Gibson.
“You make so many friends, like many people have said earlier, and I was like, no. But like because, usually I think I’m pretty good at making friends often, but like with band, I think I always had that, like, okay, I have people to lean back on or like, I can talk to this about like, these like this group of people because they’ve been here before,” explained Berry. “Like it’s amazing if you do band or even any sport, you’ll have like friends hopefully, you know, automatically.”
“You could and you might get the chance to do something like the Macy’s Day Parade,” said Dangerfield.
Now game one has passed, the work continues for the rest of the season.
