From the Field to the Ballroom: An Athletic Bands Concert
The trombone/baritone section of the Athletic Bands. Photo By Laura Johnson
The UMD Marching Band can be seen performing on the football field in the fall and the Pep Band can be heard jamming out at hockey games. These two ensembles, known collectively as the Athletic Bands, decided to try out a new venue to perform.
This past Sunday, March 30 the Athletic Bands held their first concert since becoming a student organization in the 2022 school year. Members of both ensembles came together to perform their favorite songs from their repertoire such as “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, “Freeze Frame” by the J. Geils Band and “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen.
This concert, held in Kirby Ballroom, was an opportunity for students, family and community members to see what the Athletic Bands has to offer if they’ve never gotten to see them perform at UMD Athletic games.
“We wanted to put this concert on to get the word out about who we are,” Athletic Bands President, junior Jacob Hammond said. “Some people don’t know that we have an athletic bands at UMD and it’s really cool to get the word out and be able to show people some really fun music and what we’ve been doing.”
Athletic Bands Poster. Courtesy of the Athletic Bands Instagram
To entertain the audience with more than just music, and to give the musicians some breaks, different sections of the band presented additional skits or performances, such as the saxophones doing a group dance, the trumpets making jokes about the other sections along with fun chants sprinkled throughout that the band shouts at games.
“What I particularly enjoyed about the band concert is that there’s a lot more energy,” Athletic Bands member, sophomore Ben Reixesen said. “I would like us to continue to experiment with different things.”
Reixesen mentioned how the band tried something new at this concert by connecting Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and A Beat” to Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4,” as the ending of the former song sounds similar to the beginning of the latter’s.
The ballroom might not have been filled to capacity with audience members, but it was great to see many alumni of the bands attending the concert. You could tell who was a band kid by the way they jammed out in their seats along with the band.
The Athletic Bands used to put on concerts in years past and is looking to bring them back in full force in order to continue their journey as a student organization.
“I think the lesson to be learned is it really is a team effort,” said Hammond. “It’s really exciting to put on something like that when a lot of people maybe didn't expect us to.”
As a member of the Athletic Bands, I very much enjoyed putting on this concert. It was really fun getting to play with all my friends one last time before I graduate. I only wish that we could’ve started doing this concert earlier. Being in the ensembles has been my favorite part of my college journey.
The bands hope to continue to put on a concert like this in the near future. For those interested in joining, it is a great opportunity to play an instrument in a fun, low pressure environment. Check out the UMD Athletic Bands Instagram.