Outside of Beaver Stadium

One common misconception among Blue Band fans is that we don't do anything except march in Beaver Stadium on Saturdays, and occasionally at a Bowl Game.  This couldn't be farther from the truth!  Not only does the Blue Band do a lot of recruitment gigs, but we do other fun musical stuff, too!

I'll start off with recruitment gigs.  Our director, Mr. Gregory Drane just completed his second year as Blue Band director.  Before he was head director, he was assistant director for many years.  One of Mr. Drane's favorite phrases comes from the Penn State Alma Mater: "For the future that we wait".  Mr. Drane constantly looks toward the future of the Blue Band and how we can improve the organization.  He wants to make sure the Blue Band has the best musicians available.  To ensure this, he often asks for 20-30 musicians to play at various recruitment events, such as the Provost Dinner or accepted student days.  Our most recent recruitment gig featured Drane's five-year-old son, Deuce.

Photo courtesy of Rasa Drane

Another thing the Blue Band does is thank our sponsors!  This year there was a dinner in York, Pennsylvania to honor some of the big donors to Penn State York.  Some members of the Blue Band (mostly those from York, myself included) travelled to York as a surprise to thank our donors (and potentially pick up a few more).  What I didn't know is that one of my high school marching instructors, who is good friends with Mr. Drane and just happens to be the next Alumni Blue Band Association President, was there!

L to R: Allison Ruman and Brett Butler (ABBA President)

Although we do some gigs outside of game day, we also do some during game day!  The most coveted of these is called President's Tailgate.  A select group of members gets to leave practice early (a big plus) and go to the Nittany Lion Inn, where they play popular songs for President Barron, his wife, and other important guests at that day's game.  Allegedly, the food is fantastic, so getting on the P Tailgate roster is pretty competitive.  The second is called Team Walk.  This entails a different select group of members who travel to Beaver Stadium before the game and lead the team into the stadium for the first time that day while playing fight songs.  The crowd is usually anxious to see the team, so we are often met with good energy.  Fun fact: I did every team walk this year!  So if you were among the thousands to see the team in to the stadium on Saturdays, you probably heard me playing my trumpet, too.

Along with home games, the Alumni Blue Band Association donates enough money to the band to send a pep band to each away game that the whole band doesn't attend.  This gives us a huge leg up because we have representation at all of our football games of the season, which isn't something a lot of bands can say.

Sometimes the band gets together to do things that aren't actually musical at all!  Molly Barron, President Barron's wife, has a special relationship with the Blue Band.  Every game at the end of the third quarter, she comes to the band and conducts "Hey! Baby!"  And, once a year, she invites the entire Blue Band to her house for a picnic!  The food there was probably the best I've ever eaten.

Photo credit to Olivia Dowd

This is a great opportunity to get some really nice section pictures

Photo credit to Olivia Dowd

Some not so nice section pictures

Photo credit to Olivia Dowd

And an opportunity to talk to THE FIRST LADY HERSELF

Photo credit to Olivia Dowd

I don't remember what she said, I was too busy freaking out that Molly Barron was talking to me.  Also, thinking about how I almost spilled ketchup on the carpet of her office (which probably costs more than I do if we're being honest).

We also perform at THON!  Every year you can catch the Blue Band in the THON pep rally

Drum major Jimmy Frisbie and Blue Sapphire Rachel Reiss with Mike the Mailman at 2017 THON pep rally
Photo credt to Annemarie Mountz

All in all, the band does some pretty cool stuff other than just marching in Beaver Stadium every Saturday.  If you have a younger family member who is looking to come to Penn State, tell them to be on the lookout for the Blue Band when they come to visit!

For more Blue Band Pictures, visit the Blue Band Historian Flickr page
To view more of Annemarie Mountz's photography, click here

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