At 6:45 a.m. on gameday, campus is quiet as students sleep off their Friday night hangovers in preparation for a long day of tailgating and football. The streets are cold and empty. The stores have yet to open.
But in the Lakeshore campus, the University of Wisconsin-Madison marching band practice field comes alive. Bikes from the members’ morning commutes line the fence, the sounds of scales and chatter fill the air and the ground is scattered with instrument cases and boxes of donuts brought to share.
Football games at UW-Madison are made of a lot more than just football itself. The Wisconsin Marching Band helps create the atmosphere and tradition surrounding each game, but the energy requires more work behind the scenes than many fans can imagine.
For gamedays with an early kickoff, like the Oct. 3 game against Michigan State University, which started at 11:30 a.m., band members have an early wakeup with rehearsal starting at 6:45 a.m. The musicians run laps around the field, stretch and play their warmup scales as a group.
They then practice playing the visiting school’s fight song and any new songs for the week, as turn around for learning music is fast.
“Every week we have a brand new show,” Noah Showalter, a sophomore in the marching band, told The Daily Cardinal.
Band members typically spend at least 10 hours a week practicing because they learn a new halftime show each week, and rehearsal is rarely a straight run-through. Coaches are constantly stopping the band to repeat sections, and while interruptions can be frustrating, the players remain focused on getting each part right.
The hard work is especially visible as they practice their spacing on the field, using the UW-Madison Marching Band’s unique style, “stop at the top” — a technique requiring musicians to raise their knees to a 45-degree angle while keeping their shins perpendicular to the ground.
“It’s pretty draining to come out here every single weekend and have to perform for everyone,” Caralyn Felcyn, the assistant drum major, told the Cardinal. “Being the leader I feel like you have to just go out there and be the light to everyone, and show you’ve got the energy. You have to hype people up, even when it hurts and it's hard.”
The drum major and assistant drum major serve as the band’s leaders and conductors on the field. During rehearsals, they keep tempo and help to instruct musicians.
The next level of on-field leadership comes from the rank leaders, who lead the band’s 26 ranks. Ranks are groups that coordinate with different instruments and positions on the field, according to John Griffon, a freshman drummer.
Leigh McComb, Rank Four’s leader described the role as one that helps “hold people accountable when they are marching” and to “maintain a community.”
Once everything has been perfected around an hour and a half later, the band gathers for one last discussion before starting a beloved pregame tradition “the fun-on.”
During the fun-on, the drum major leads everyone through a comedic run-on which involves skipping, chanting at the other ranks and playing random songs.
The performers then have a break to go home, eat and change into their uniforms before heading to Union South for their performance at the Badger Bash.
Everyone meets in the underground loading dock, where they eat snacks, apply glitter to their faces and store their valuables in ziploc bags to carry for the day. For good luck, they rub the drum major’s fuzzy hat and after a quick warmup, it is time to march into Union South.
“It’s just this rush of energy,” Showalter said when describing his pre-performance feelings. “Everyone is working together and everyone wants to have fun.”
During the football game the musicians are always on call, having to play the last eight beats of “On Wisconsin” for every first down the football team makes and playing a variety of songs when teams call time-outs.
Following the halftime performance the band gets another short break. Members use the time to meet up with family and friends, grab a pretzel from the stadium’s food stands or simply sit down and rest. The time gives the musicians a minute to rest before their fifth quarter performance.
Showalter told the Cardinal if the football team secures a win, the marching band turns their hats backward for the fifth quarter and marches onto the field. Members perform skits filled with dancing, jumping over one another and other comedic acts.
After the game, the group marches across campus to the George L. Mosse Humanities Building for a final gameday reflection. During the march, musicians are eager to conclude their day, creating chants like “I’m going home to take a nap doo da, doo da.”
After the long day, even the band directors join in the chanting, excited to be nearing the end.
For their final meeting of the day, the band directors and drum majors stand above the rest of the musicians on the Humanities Building balcony, congratulating everyone on a job well done, and serving as a reminder of how tightly knit the marching band is.
“The band has just been so great, and so fun, and welcoming,” Freshman Hugo Wittkopf told the Cardinal. “It’s like, why do I even need to know anyone on campus? The band is my new family.”
