Despite the postponement of ETSU football to the spring, about one-sixth of the ETSU Marching Bucs performed live for an audience Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m. in Borchuck Plaza as the first performance of a new series – Friday Concerts on the Plaza.
These free public mini-concerts will take place every Friday through Nov. 20, which is the last day of in-person classes. The Blue and Gold pep bands will alternate performances, with this first performance done by the Blue Band.
Showing off new t-shirts, the band played songs traditional to football season including the university’s fight song, “Tennessee Waltz”, “Buccaneer March”, “The Horse”, “Hooked on a Feeling”, “Tusk” and ETSU’s Alma Mater. Athletic Bands Director Joe Moore and Athletic Bands Assistant Director Reilly Fox spoke in between each song, introducing them and talking about the band.
The performance drew a moderate crowd, with attendees wearing face-coverings per the university’s COVID-19 policies. The audience cheered and applauded after every song, and many people took videos of the performance on their phones and cameras.
When marching band went online, Moore said students were missing the opportunity to perform. He said ETSU President Brian Noland asked him to see if some students would want to do some practices to provide music on campus. So many students were willing to come that Moore devised a plan to perform as well.
Knowing they were limited to 50 people per ETSU’s COVID-19 policies regarding outdoor gatherings, he decided to divide the band up and put on small afternoon concerts on Fridays. They started practice Sept. 14 and had only two practices, Sept. 14 and 16, to prepare for their first performance.
“I think it went really well,” Moore said. “I’m really proud of the band members, and how they pulled this together so quickly. I’m thrilled that they have the chance to get together and perform, and we had a great turnout. I had no idea what to expect. And we were going to record it and livestream it for people anyway, and so we didn’t know if anybody would come by. The people that just came out to listen, it’s thrilling. It’s humbling, too.”
Moore said he is grateful that these concerts give students to opportunity to perform, especially those who this is their last year in marching band and at ETSU.
Senior Levi Parks, the newest drum major, did not think he would have the chance to be drum major this year due to COVID-19, but these concerts are giving him the chance to. Parks said getting to conduct in front of an audience took his breath away.
“To me it means not as much for me to get to perform, conduct for everybody,” Parks said, “but to be able to show off the band the way that through everything that’s going on, we persevered. We make sure that we get something done. We can still perform what we want to perform.”
ETSU junior and Marching Bucs clarinet player Emily Richardson was excited to see and perform with her bandmates, who she described as family, after not seeing them for almost a year.
“I was really excited to do it because being in band is part of the fall experience in a college experience,” Richardson said. “And I was really bummed that it was going to be cancelled. So, I’m really glad we got to do it.”
Cale Smith, a senior from John. S. Battle high school and an audience member at the event was excited to hear that the ETSU Marching Bucs were holding live performances this fall. A drum major and member of the trumpet section in her school’s marching band, Smith said she wants to join the Marching Bucs. She plans to attend ETSU as a freshman in 2021 and wants to major in music education.
“It was a great experience,” Smith said. “It made me really want to come here a lot more than what was I was already intending on, but it just made me really happy and just excited.”
The ETSU Majorettes and ETSU Trumpet Ensemble will perform as special guests on Sept. 25, the Gold Band will play football songs on Oct. 2 and the ETSU Color Guard will perform as a special guest on Oct. 9. After that, the cycle will start from the beginning again with the Blue Band.
Moore said these concerts will allow them to prepare for football season in the spring, but they are also an opportunity for the Marching Bucs to perform for the campus and community and to show people that music is still alive at ETSU.
“Music has been, I think for society in general, music has been a big help during this pandemic,” Moore said. “And this is a chance for them [the Marching Bucs], you know, it’s not only social as far as them getting together and working together, but it’s just what they love to do, is perform.”
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