I've survived one full week of Oregon Marching Band Camp, didn't fall on my face in front of 56, 000 people at our first home game performance, and have learned all 31 or so trumpet players' names. So I guess you could say it was a pretty successful week at the good ol' University of Oregon!
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| Everyone knows trumpets are the gold at the end of that rainbow. |
It's been great getting to know the other band members, especially the trumpet section, with whom I spend most of time during camp hours. The marching is fine, if monotonous, and the playing is really fun, but it's admittedly tough memorizing 30 songs in seven days. Camp is definitely work. It did pay off, though, this Saturday during the Oregon vs. Georgia State game.
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| School pride at six in the morning. Woo! |
Since kickoff was at 11am, the band's call time was ridiculously early. Buses from campus left at 5:30am to take us to Autzen Stadium where we rehearsed a bit before taking our 9am lunch (I'd already been awake four and a half hours at that point) break. They treat the band really well, though. I mean, there are over 250 members and each of us got our own, fresh, personalized lunch with our name on it.
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| Walking on (and basking in) Sunshine! |
We played some stands tunes, like Louie Louie, Walking on Sunshine, Crazy in Love, and the UO fight song next to the parking lots outside the stadium for fans after our early morning lunch. Then, we headed into the tunnel and waited for pre game to start. As we waited, Georgia State football players walked by. All I can say about them was they were pumped up for the game and high on the testosterone scale. When the defensive line walked by, it looked like a few Hagrids in spandex had entered the scene. Those guys were huge! TV does not do them justice.
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| Waiting for pre game and trying not to get in the way of ginormous athletes. |
We were finally called out of the tunnel and lined up on our respective sides of the field. Everything was going really well, we played and marched the introductory fight song right, got into the planned formations afterwards, and were playing The Star Spangled Banner when I was suddenly engulfed in a giant ribbon of silk. A few band members run across the field at one point during the National Anthem with big silk banners to create an American flag. One of the silk runners must have caught a draft or something because one moment I was standing on my dot tooting the final notes to the song and the next I was in a sea of red silk.
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| Some OMB pre game highlights. |
Then came the really neat stuff. We lined up on the field to make a "tunnel" for the UO football team to run through, but first came all the cheerleaders and other folks from the spirit crew, a ton of police officers/security people, and finally the Duck himself on a motorcycle! It was an intense buildup to the team running onto the field while we blasted the fight song and all 56, 000 fans screamed. For more pictures from the game click here.
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| Duck Vision. |
Halftime and playing in the stands were also fun, if not quite as intense. Although it was a lot to learn in a small amount of time, I'm very glad we had a game the first Saturday of band camp. Now I know what exactly we're working towards and it's a pretty neat reward. And of course in addition to the actual performance piece, I've gotten to know a handful of people I truly enjoy and am excited to start school with a small friend group already. Only one more week until classes start! Sco Ducks!
