Toot your own horn

It's a cold Saturday in November in Cambridge, Mass. It is the day of...The Game. The Yale Precision Marching Band (YPMB) has just finished its field show, which featured not only a fine repertoire of current hits, but also a 17-foot-long cardboard shark. The Harvard band takes the field while the shark circles ominously beyond the endzone. Everyone—from the youngest freshman to New York Governor George Pataki, PC '67—is chanting "Send the shark!" The Harvard band scrambles to protect their beloved bass drum. The crowd works itself into a frenzy. The shark begins to creep over to the Harvard side, and the rest is history.

FABIÁN ROSADO/YH The YPMB blows its irreverent heart out for Yale.

This is just one example of the YPMB's many exploits at football games. Other halftime hijinks include leaping into a Princeton campus fountain to play "Bulldog," setting sousaphones on fire, and the wedding of two YPMB alums. It would take an entire Herald freshman issue to describe them all.

Undoubtedly one of the athletic program's biggest supporters, the YPMB brings its sound, fury, and witty irreverence not only to football games but also other major athletic events throughout the year. The alter ego of the YPMB, the Winter Wonder Band, appears at Yale hockey and basketball games. In fact, nothing and no one is safe from a YPMB visit—neither students cramming for a Spanish final in the Language Lab, nor First Lady Hillary Clinton, LAW '73, making a speech at New Haven City Hall.

Clearly, this is not your regular marching band. Regular marching bands march in straight lines. The YPMB doesn't even march. Regular marching bands wear polyester uniforms. The YPMB wears jeans. Regular marching bands play John Philip Sousa. The YPMB plays John Lennon. In fact, the YPMB prides itself on being on the cutting edge of the college band scene. Student arrangers work furiously to expand the band's repertoire. Recent hits include A-Ha's "Take On Me," Black Box's "Strike It Up," and the theme to the videogame Super Mario Brothers.

All are welcome to join the YPMB: orchestra-caliber trombonists, second saxophones, and even non-instrumentalists. In fact, non-instrumentalists play a vital role in the YPMB; who do you think piloted the shark? YPMB shows are not just an auditory feast but a smorgasbord of visual elements.

So don't be the one sitting in the Language Lab when the man with the whistle and sweater comes in followed by an army of Yale fanatics. Be one of the fanatics. Join the YPMB and join the fun.

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