“Run it back!” Being a part of the Grizzly Marching Band, you hear this multiple times a rehearsal, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4:00 to 5:40 pm. The Grizzly Marching Band is 140 strong and is the greatest group of friends you could find.
We spend the whole week before classes together; 12 hours a day learning to march, memorizing music, and building friendships. We learn the fundamentals of marching by playing games and just having fun; we even run through a giant rope to build communication throughout the band. We then have a barbecue at the end of the week where each section puts on skits based on what has happened throughout band camp; for no other reason than for fun. That’s the week before classes; then classes start and we get back to work.
We spend our rehearsals practicing tunes we play in the stands, drum cadences, and of course the music we actually march to. Then we start practicing our drill, that’s where the magic happens, where all 140 of us stand and move in certain ways for the formations that the audience sees from the stands.
This can involve a lot of “Run it back,” and “Go back to the last set.” All of these rehearsals and us practicing outside of rehearsals is all so we can have an awesome game today.
And then game day arrives. Game days are the days us band kids crave almost as much as the Griz football players themselves. They are the best kind of controlled chaos you can find on the UM campus. We show up at the stadium for dress rehearsal so we can work out any last minute kinks we have in the show, get our plumes (those feathers on our hats), and then go to Griz Walk. Griz Walk is where we get to rock out, show our spirit, dance our hearts out, and lead the team to the locker rooms with the Grizzly Fight song.
That is all before lunch.
Once we have finished devouring our 10+ sub sandwiches and bags of chips (you’d be surprised how hungry marching can make you), we perform for the University President and his brunch-goers. The tailgate parade closely follows, which is basically a parade of drum cadences, cheers for our Griz, and the fight song thrown in there a time or two. Then it is game time.
“WHAT TIME IS IT?”
“GAME TIME!”
If you are ever by the North End Zone and can hear this loud and enthusiastic chant, you know that the Grizzly Marching Band is ready to perform and cheer on our Griz Football players. Before long, we high step onto the field to form the largest M you will probably ever see, where we play the state song for our fellow Montana-lovers. The fight song returns and we form G-R-I-Z on the turf, the entire stadium clapping and singing along. And although the energy has been building the whole time, it’s not until the tunnel is formed and the football team runs out through the fog and fireworks that you realize you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on a Saturday afternoon than in Washington-Grizzly Stadium with the Grizzly Marching Band.
In mere moments, we are off the field and in the stands, playing, cheering and dancing our hearts out. Halftime arrives in full force, and all of our hard work- the 12 hour days at camp, the sore muscles, the sun exposure, and the dehydration- comes together in crisp lines and a loud, full sound.
And man do we perform our hearts out till the very end.
That is a day in the life of the Grizzly Marching Band. It’s busy, chaotic, and tiring, but is also some of the best days you’ll experience while in college. Next time you see us practicing, we invite you to stop and watch. We love it. And thank you for always supporting us.
