Evan Moscariello and Wynne Drucker
The Merrimack College football team delivered a dominant 24-7 win against Robert Morris University for homecoming weekend, and it was awesome to get to watch from the sidelines as a marching band member. This year, they moved the band from our spot in the big bleachers, where we’d been since the band was founded in 2021, to right behind the end zone with our own reserved set of bleachers for just us. This has totally changed the game day experience for us as we’re now so much closer to the action.
We started the day with an early morning rehearsal to quickly clean up our halftime show before the dance and cheer teams joined us to go around and perform at the tailgates. We played Fireball and Build Me Up Buttercup, both longtime MC band favorites, as well as our brand new fight song written by our assistant band director, Dr. Andrew Cote. It reminds me of a fight song you’d hear a band play at huge football schools in the deep south like Alabama or Texas A&M, which I am a big fan of.
During the game, we have a variety of stand tunes that we play. We have an app called Flip Folder with all of our stand tunes programmed on it, and our band director Paul picks them at random order. So when we’re in the stands, we have no prepared setlist and it is different every time. We also play different grooves for things such as first and third downs. The halftime show, on the other hand, is the same for every game, as it takes a ton of work to put together a high quality halftime show. This year’s halftime show is called quarter life crisis, featuring songs by Panic at The Disco, The Offspring, and Lit, and it’s by far the hardest thing we’ve ever done as a program. The drumline alums of the last two years were all there, and they were blown away by the huge step up we made in just two years. With the demand it requires to play well and how much we put into it, I’m so proud of the result. And we got to play it in front of over 15,000 people!
As Evan mentioned, having the opportunity to watch every football game, especially Homecoming, from the sidelines is a huge privilege. It feels like my own special front row seat. Homecoming was an exciting day for the spirit squads, as we cheered Merrimack into a victory. My day as a member of the dance team started off with the parking lot parade as well and then headed into hyping fans up during the football game. We had lots of fun on the sidelines cheering for the team, tossing t-shirts, and performing for the crowd. Though, there is actually a lot more work that goes into sidelines than the average fan might think. The dance team has about nine sideline routines that go by code words like “Boston” and “Annie.” Each of the nine routines has 3-5 songs assigned to them. Therefore, when our coach hears which song is being played next she’ll tell us which code word routine to prepare for so that we know what to perform for the crowd. It acts as a fun memory game as a team.
The dance team’s halftime performance was also a team favorite this year. We performed a Michael Jackson mashup with many of his hit songs including Smooth Criminal, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin, and more! This dance included lots of stylized choreography and famous Michael Jackson moves which is what made it stand out from most of our past routines. It gave us a challenge as a team but we were really proud of how the performance came together and it was definitely a fun routine to show the homecoming crowd. Performing for a crowd as large as homecoming’s was exhilarating and so enjoyable. I feel so lucky that strangers appreciate what I’m so passionate about. Overall, homecoming was a great event as always and something the spirit squads look forward to each year.
