Geek

I went to a concert tonight. A really great one. And not one of your silly "rock" concerts with their amps and sweat and screaming fans. This is not that cool. It's infinitely cooler--the University of Wisconsin-Madison Varsity Band.

This is the band that in the fall is known as the marching band. They play pregames and halftimes and the renowned 5th quarter after the football games, win or lose. Thousands of rabid fans (both students and adults, inebriated and sober) sing, dance, and yell along with the band, who play classics such as "Tequila," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Beer Barrel Polka," and of course, "On Wisconsin." There is only one way to truly get a sense of the grand fun of this tradition, which is of course by being at Camp Randall for a game.

In lieu of that, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHjkUgVdqQ.
(Also, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxJzADik5TA&feature=related. The fun starts 30 seconds in.)

The band is an integral part of every UW football game. This is a school where the band director is as well-known among fans as the football coach. In the spring, however, when football season has long passed, the bandees keep the spirit alive with their Spring Concert. Thousands attend the show inside the basketball arena, the music is loud, there are light displays, fireworks, guest performers, acrobatics--you name it. Robot drumline? Check. African drum group? Check. The 70-something director flying over the audience on wires and doing midair somersaults? Check--a few times over.

There is nothing like the UW band. I like to think that's not bias. It's just the truth. (What's the collegiate form of jingoism?)

I actually dreamt of being in the band. For one day I was. I naïvely thought that it would be fun to try out for the marching band. That first day of reg week was sheer horror. It was what I imagine boot camp to be like--or the innermost circle of hell.

10am-1pm -- Drill
Lunch
2-5:30pm - Drill
Dinner
7-9:30pm - Music Rehearsal
Auditions
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It was hot. Beating sun. We were given nearly no breaks. Constant moving. Section leaders/drill seargants yelling in your ear. Mocking cheers and cadences from upperclassmen. Nearly impossible exercises. Precision, speed, strength, perfection.

Fatigue. Dehydration. Pain. I don't know how the 300 members do it. I barely made it through a day and I'm sure I couldn't have lasted a second longer. But I really gained a new appreciation for the band.

At least in boot camp you don't have to play an instrument while you're being worked to death.