The football team is undoubtedly the most recognizable tenet of any event — at Autzen Stadium or in venues across the country where America’s most popular sport is played. The players, rivalries and narratives are what draw fans to the stadium. Football is characterized by its investment in teamwork, dedication and investment: idealized traits that fund the glory we search for in the sport.
But the team isn’t the end-all, be-all of the day, and certainly not all that shapes the experience. The production of a football game is made up of a web of groups, from the television crew and stadium announcer to the marching band, cheer team and mascot. In this series, the Daily Emerald recognizes the elements of the gameday experience that often go unnoticed — on every level. Today, we’re highlighting the Oregon Marching Band, a long-standing institution that remains one of the fundamental pieces of the University of Oregon’s sports universe.
Finding pleasure in bringing that experience to a stadium’s worth of people is invaluable; it’s something that I’ve been doing since my freshman year of high school. It’s a sort of project that brings people together in a way that mimics what we idealize as a football team’s mentality. The Oregon Marching Band rehearsed for 12 hours every day for two weeks in order to prepare for games against Hawaii and Colorado.
It was, to say the least, a fantastic experience.
A whirlwind of learning, culminating in two Saturdays of college football, proves that what happens behind the scenes is just as important as the weekend festivities. The OMB performed two halftime shows, featuring music from the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”and “Lilo and Stitch,” as well as music spanning eras from the 1930s to the 2010s with “Sing Sing Sing” and Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance.”
In a program that mimics the preseason work that garners football teams plaudits, students arrived on campus two weeks before the first day of classes in order to memorize music, develop shows and prepare for the upcoming season. That embedded attitude is what draws attention to the band; their hard work, while sometimes difficult to notice, shows up on game day.
OMB trombonist Jay Fuchser said, “I think that, without the band, [the game]’s kind of dry. We guide students and fans into this ‘hype’ environment.” Fuchser, in their third year with the program, traveled to San Diego with the band last year to perform at the Holiday Bowl, where the Ducks faced off against the University of North Carolina in an eventual 28-27 win for Oregon. For the band, Fuchser says, the experience was, “a lot of exciting things; [the Holiday Bowl organizers] did a lot for the band.”
A quick look at the band’s mission statement reveals their dedication and commitment to, as they say, “[enhancing] the Oregon collegiate experience while positively representing the University of Oregon.” For anyone who attends a game at Autzen Stadium (or Matthew Knight Arena, for that matter), it’s obvious that they have met and exceeded their goal. The band presents a facet of the experience so valuable that it’s unthinkable for the fans and team to have a day without them.
From their section sitting behind the west endzone, they facilitate a multitude of parts of home gamedays, including their pregame show (the day’s first performance of “Mighty Oregon,” alongside the national anthem and the player tunnel), to the provisory soundtrack of the game: every Bucky Irving first down, Bo Nix bomb and defensive shutdown is punctuated by the horns and drums of the band.
At halftime, hundreds of members take the field to present a choreographed show featuring the wind and percussion ensemble alongside percussionists that add an extra dimension to the performance. It’s a tradition that spans across college football, but it’s the heart that the performers put in that makes it special.
The ensemble returns to the stands for the second half — not taking a minute off — as they bring classics like “Crazy in Love” and “Lovestoned” to life. This is where the second portion of their mission statement makes its final bow: “Our high-caliber musical and visual performances engage the crowd at home and abroad. We take pride in our values of education and professionalism, as well as our student-led tradition of excellence as reflected in our rehearsals and public appearances.” These are musicians pouring every effort into making music that illustrates the whirlwind of emotions that sports can provide; every note is imbued with the same qualities of the football as it arcs through the air.
In Fuchser’s eyes, the band “brings the noise” to the game. “It’s exciting,” he said. “It channels all of the energy.”
When the OMB returns to Autzen Stadium for the Ducks’ next home game on Oct. 21, it’ll be with the same vigor and enthusiasm that has come to embody the Oregon spirit. Like many aspects of the Oregon football experience, they often go without the proper recognition, but it’s their music that brings the game to life.
