The weekend of the 15th, the whole marching band traveled with the football team up to Stanford for the Weekender. I was really excited for this trip, especially because this year I am now the leader of the trombone section. The last time we went up to Stanford was freshmen year, and I had a great time, even though we lost the game. This time, I really wanted us to beat Stanford!
We met on campus at 6:30 am on Friday morning to get on the buses and head up north. There is a tradition that every bus has a certain theme, and the theme on our bus was Animal House. All the upperclassmen dressed up in togas – it looked pretty awesome. After taking some pictures, we headed off. We made a stop for food, which I really appreciated because being tall does not go well with sitting in a cramped bus seat for multiple hours.
All dressed up!
When we got to the Bay Area, we checked in to our hotel and then headed off into downtown San Francisco. We did a rally at Union Square for all the Trojan fans. It was really fun performing in such a public place with a great crowd. I thought we had a great performance.
Union Square Rally!
After the rally, I took the trombone section to dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack near Pier 39. It was a great place for a large group to hang out and get dinner. We got up and danced with the waiters and waitresses, which was a lot of fun. It was a fun experience that helped to get to know each other. After that, we headed back to the hotel and got to bed to get ready for the big day on Saturday.
Joe’s Crab Shack with the Bones
We woke up at 6:00 am on Saturday morning. We got a quick breakfast and headed out to San Mateo Community College to practice our show. The practice went well and everything looked great for the game.
Around noon, we headed off to Stanford for the game. When we got there, we got in our uniforms and got warmed up across the street from the school. After that, we marched over to a USC rally on campus for all the Trojan fans going to the game. It was really fun playing some of our tunes. When we were finished with the rally, we were supposed to march into the stadium, but we were not allowed to, because we were too early, so we got to stay and chat with the Trojan fans. I got to see my dad and his friend, who came to see the game (only a 2 hour drive from where I’m from to Stanford) and it was good getting to talk to him about the game and to catch up. After around 20 minutes, we got everyone together and headed into the Stanford stadium.
Seeing my dad and his friend
I won’t say much about the game, since the outcome was not the one we wanted. However, the band played really well and we had an awesome pregame and halftime show. Our halftime show was a compilation of some modern club music, including “We Found Love” by Rihanna. You can view a video of the show here. It’s really fun to play in a visiting stadium where everyone is booing you. Gets the adrenaline pumpin’.
Halftime Show
After the game, we stayed and played for the Trojan fans in the stadium, and then headed out. I definitely slept well that night because I was exhausted from such a long day. The next morning, we got everything packed up and headed back to L.A. It was a great trip and a great opportunity to get to know the new freshmen better. Looking forward, I know the team is going to have a great rest of their season and so are we. The next trip I have is to Washington to play the Huskies. Stay tuned 🙂
Post-game performance
someone’s tired…
