Boston College Marching Band

CollegeMarchingBandInfoBox
bandname="Screaming Eagles" Marching Band

school=Boston College
location=Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
conference=ACC
founded=
director=David Healey
members=180
uniform=Instrumentalists: maroon and white jacket with maroon pants, white gloves, white Drillmasters, and a maroon and white shako with a white plume; Visual Teams: maroon leotard, skin-colored tights, dance shoes.The Boston College Marching Band, also known as the "Screaming Eagles" Marching Band or BCMB for short, is a 180-member marching band for the Boston College Eagles.

The Band

The Boston College Marching Band has approximately 180 members, and is directed by David Healey. The Band is divided into six sections: high brass, low brass, woodwinds, battery, front ensemble, dance team, and color guard, each of which is instructed by a staff member of the Band. In addition, each section is further broken down by instrument, each of which is headed by a section leader. While auditions are not required for instrumentalists, they are required for visual team members.

While most members of the BCMB are students of Boston College, the Band also has some "partner-school" members, who are students at colleges in Boston that do not have marching bands.

The BCMB uses a variety of different instruments: trumpets, mellophones, trombones, baritones, sousaphones, alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, and piccolos, in addition to its wide range of percussion instruments. The instrumentation of the Band is marked by its lack of clarinets and flutes; due to the small size of the Band, students who play these instruments cross-train to other instruments that are louder (most popularly saxophone and piccolo).

The Band performs two half-time shows a year, and marches in the corps style. These half-time shows, while only 6 minutes long, usually consist of 30-40 sets, with the Band's members continually moving the entire time. The Band also performs pep band duties during the game, playing "stand-shorts" during breaks in the action and longer songs during time-outs.

Music & Performances

The Band performs at every home football game. Additionally, the Band has played at parades in the Boston area and usually goes on at least one away game trip each season. During the 2007 season, the whole band traveled to College Park, Maryland for the regular season away game at the the University of Maryland, Jacksonville, Florida for the ACC Championship Game and Orlando, Florida for the Champs Sports Bowl, with a smaller pep ensemble fielding the regular season away game to Clemson University.

Before every football game, the Boston College Marching Band parades through Lower Campus and leads the team into Alumni Stadium. Afterward, The Band performs the "peptacular" on the steps of Silvio O. Conte Forum. Before the football game starts, the Marching Band performs "The Pre-Game Show." Pre-Game starts with a High-Brass Fanfare, performed only by the Trumpets and Mellophones. Afterward, the Band "prances" out onto the field into a block formation. The Band then performs a series of BC fight songs. First, the Band performs "Sons of Maroon and Gold" while facing the home side of the stadium. Afterward, the Band turns around to face the opposing team's side of the stadium and plays their fight song. They then turn back around and perform "All Up For Boston," and end with the School Fight Song, "For Boston." During "For Boston," the Band forms the letters "BC" on the field, and during the final phrases, "italicizes" the letters to match the school's logo.

The Band performs two halftime shows during the course of the season. One is classically based and the other is more modern. Despite the generally high-difficulty of the show, all music for the half-time shows must be memorized before the performance. For the 2007-08 football season, the first half-time show was a medley of music by Tchaikovsky (including the theme from Romeo & Juliet, and the 1812 Overture), and the second show was a medley of Western-movie theme music (including The Magnificent Seven, How the West Was Won, and Silverado).

In the stands, the Band also plays a variety of music. After every first down, the Band plays a short, 4-bar fanfare similar to "For Boston," the school's fight song. The Band also plays numerous cheers, such as "E-A-G-L-E-S," after which the fans spell out the word "Eagles." Some songs the Band played during the 2007-08 season were:
*"Mars, Bringer of War" by Gustav Holst
*"O Fortuna" by Carl Orff
*"Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez
*"Kernkraft 400 (Zombie Nation)" by Zombie Nation
*"Heaven" by DJ Sammy
*"Everytime We Touch" by Cascada
*"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey
*"Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
*"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by The Dropkick Murphys
*"Party Like a Rockstar" by The Shop Boys
*"The Final Countdown" by Europe
*"Stronger" by Kanye West
*"Crazy Train" by Ozzy Ozbourne

The Band also performs versions of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup," both of which have become traditions at Boston College. The Eagles share the tradition of singing "Sweet Caroline" with the Boston Red Sox.

References

* http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/bands/ensembles/marching.html
* http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/bands/ensembles/dance.html

External links

* http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/bands/ensembles/marching.html
* http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/bands/ensembles/dance.html