Hello again everyone! It’s Hannah, again.
So you’ve made it through preseason camp. You know the stand tunes, you know the show music, and you could probably even march your spot in the drill with your eyes closed. Well now it’s time to show that off (although I don’t recommend marching with your eyes closed). That’s right R.A.T.s….it’s GAMEDAY!
While the game may only be a few hours long, Gameday for the marching band starts well before the game. There are shows to review, pregame to practice, and pep rallies to perform. Here’s a rundown on how Saturdays on the Plains typically go.
Rise and Shine… it’s morning rehearsal!
If I had to guess, I’d say that right now the idea of rolling out of bed at 7:00am on a Saturday morning doesn’t sound a lot like something you would voluntarily do. However, for the marching band, Gameday can start just that early. Although morning rehearsals are not always that early, on days when the football game starts before noon, it’s not unusual for us to be out on the band field before the sun even rises.
Morning rehearsals will run relatively similar to a typical school rehearsal. The big main difference is that they will run a little longer (around 3 hours). You will start off by stretching and tuning in your section, then move to the warm-up arch to run through some music, and then hit the field for marching practice (both the halftime and pregame shows). A band-wide “War Eagle!” always ends practice and sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Break Time!
I remember my freshman year when the first Gameday rolled around; I just assumed that the day would be non-stop practice and pep rallies and such. Luckily, I was proven quite wrong. After morning rehearsals are over, band members are allowed time to take in all that Gameday at Auburn has to offer. (Well… not everything.)
Break time can be anywhere from an hour to a few hours, usually depending on the game time and what pep band you are in, which I will discuss later. During this time, what each band member chooses to do is pretty much up to their discretion. Some band members take this time to tailgate with their families, while others choose to nap in the band hall. The rest of the band can usually be found at the Auburn Alumni tent during the break, chowing down on hot dogs and popcorn before the beginning of Tiger Walk. (Ed. note: Band members get in free! It’s pretty sweet.)
Speaking of Tiger Walk…
Tiger Walk is an old Auburn tradition where the players and coaches walk through a crowd of screaming fans from the intersection of Donahue and Samford into the football stadium. For this part of Gameday, the band is split into 4 smaller pep bands. Each home game, the bands will rotate which ones participate in Tiger Walk. At Tiger Walk, the band puts on a small pep rally for the fans lining the street before playing music to accompany the football team on their stroll to the stadium. Although the pep bands that participate in Tiger Walk usually have their break time cut short, it’s always ton of fun and most band members actually look forward to their band’s turn. (It’s also a pretty good opportunity for a photo with Aubie, haha!)
(Ed. note: Okay, so Tiger Walk’s pretty amazing, right? Check out this article from EPSN.com if you don’t believe me. It’s about a little Tiger Walk from 1989 when Bama first came to town.)
Four Corners Pep Rally!
At the end of break time, each of the four pep bands head out to their assigned locations to prepare for the Four Corners Pep Rally. In this event, each of the bands marches down one of the streets that intersect in front of the stadium, playing “War Eagle” and “Glory” all along the way while the fans that line the streets clap and sing along.
After each of the bands has reached the intersection, the band joins in with the cheerleaders to put on one more loud and exciting pep rally. Rotating between school tunes and cheers, if you’re not excited for game day after this, you just might not be human. Fans pack tight into the intersection, cheering and singing. Even fans of opposing teams stop by to see what’s going on (and some climb into trees with inflatable alligators, as was the case of the Florida game two years ago).
Once the pep rally has finished the four bands joins back together and march into the stadium, which leads me into the next topic…
The March Around!
After all the pep rallying and such, we finally get to go into the stadium! The March Around is a pretty self-explanatory event, but fun nonetheless. During this, the band obviously “marches around” the stadium, playing everyone’s favorite school songs. It seems simple enough, but you’d be surprised to find how difficult it can actually be to move 350+ people around a stadium simultaneously.
When the march around is finished, only one more pre-kickoff performance really remains for the marching band…but don’t you worry, it’s definitely worth the wait.
PREEEEEGAME!!
Once you see the eagle soaring and crowd crying “Waaaaaaar”, you’ll know it’s on its way. The awesome band trailer will play on the HD Jumbotron.
After that, the drum majors will make their entrance onto the field, salute, and call the band to attention. The drums start the pregame cadence, and before you know it, you’re bursting out of the tunnel, jogging in step, with 87,451 fans screaming in the background. After the pregame show, the football team will enter the field and it’s kickoff time.
After kickoff, the band members move to their seats in the stadium, and gear up for a game of playing stand tunes, cheering, and just having a great time watching Auburn Football. Oh yeah, and there’s that whole half-time show thing, too. Don’t want to forget about that!
So pretty much, that’s how game day goes for members of the AUMB. Away games are, of course, a little different, and the schedule is likely to change for each one. While it may seem like a lot of things to do and places to be, you’ll have no problem at all knowing what to do. Schedules are always available, and section leaders are always very responsible for making sure everyone gets to the correct place at the correct time.
I hope you all are getting super excited (maybe even more so after reading this) for the fall! There’s less than 55 days left until the first game day (and less than 30 until band camp)!!
See you all soon! War Eagle!
~Hannah