At a Thursday afternoon practice the Marching 110 had a quaint audience; a small boy and his grandmother ate McDonald’s chicken nuggets in the bleachers as they bopped along to the music. Three days later the band had a crowd of over 65,000 anxious fans packed into the Paul Brown Stadium. On Sunday, September 16th the Marching 110 packed up and headed to Cincinnati to perform during halftime of the Bengals/Browns football game.
Besides preparing two songs in lieu of the normal four to five and keeping in mind the different markings on a NFL football field, practices leading up to the game were like any other. On game day the band rocked out to “Motown Philly” by Boyz II Men and “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC.
Gina Alexander, a senior Communications Sciences and Disorders major from Tipp City, Ohio who plays trombone thought nothing of heading onto the field. “Playing at the Bengals games my freshman and sophomore year felt so much different; I was nervous because I had never played in front of such a large audience. I wasn’t really nervous performing as a senior.”
During Ohio University halftime performances the enthusiasm and energy that vibrates through the stadium before the band takes the field is inevitable; before an NFL halftime that energy level is just as intense.
“The atmosphere is amazing because of all the people there. I love the feeling I get when the clock reaches 0:00 and when we are waiting to march onto the field,” said Gina.
With such a large percentage of Ohio university students and alumni from the Cleveland and Cincinnati area, this specific game was a significant one for Ohio University.
Photo taken by Alana Jo Holdren.
“During the game there were so many supporters, mostly OU alumni that would come up to us saying things like ‘We’re so excited to see you perform, we love the marching 110’. After the game, both Browns and Bengals fans were really happy that we had performed and told us that they want to see us at more games,” said Brown’s fan Anne Connors, a senior from Medina, Ohio studying Health Services Administration.
As for the result of the game? Even though her team lost, Anne loved the experience. Gina on the other hand, had a bit more to be happy about. “I’ll always remember it because it was my last performance at an NFL game ever so it was great being able to watch my favorite team destroy the Browns and having my family there too.”
For more information about the Marching 110 http://www.marching110.org/
-Ashleigh Mavros, Event Publicity Assistant
Arts for Ohio 