Transcription: Band goof-offs face the fountain
By Jules Schwab, IDS Staff Writer
Members of I.U.’s Marching Hundred who “stepped out of line” performing during the Homecoming half-time show were later thrown into Showalter Fountain.
Getting dunked into the fountain has, for years, been the fate of marchers who make mistakes in the routine.
At the first practice after each game, the names of the mistake makers are announced. The proof is in “videotapes made of each half-time show.
Every afternoon, the band can be heard practicing in the 10th Street Stadium for the weekend football game. Wilber England, associate director of the Marching Hundred, said about 300 band members, Redsteppers, twirlers and flag corps members practice at least 10 hours a week to prepare for pre-game and half-time shows.
Business major Karen Gorick, a sophomore clarinet player for the Marching Hundred, said it usually takes about two days for the band to learn music and marching formations and another three days of practice to polish the routine.
Before practicing the music and routine, members do jumping jacks and run in place, Gorick said.
“During the exercises, people scream and get crazy. The purpose is to fire the band members up for practice,” she said.
Tuba player Dan McKinley, a graduate student studying organ and church music, said the goal of each performance is to please the audience and display the band’s talent.
McKinley, a seven-year veteran of the Marching Hundred, said he has joined each year because, “It is a great experience, and in my seven years I have met some of the finest people I know.” He said the band gives him the opportunity to participate in sports activities without being an athlete.
England said if more time exists for show practices for football games scheduled more than a week apart, the band can add more details such as dance steps, salutes and bows to its performance. If time is limited, he said the shows are kept “simple, but effective.”
A student must audition by playing and sight reading music to get into the band. Gorick said there are students representing different majors in the Marching Hundred.
“Its a Small, Small World” will be the theme of the I.U.-Minnesota game Saturday. The half-time show will feature songs from around the world. The finale will be a salute to America. The Purdue game half-time show Nov. 19 will be current pop tunes, but England said the them: has not been chosen.
