What is the Marching Band?
We're not your high school marching band! In the 1960's we converted to a scatter band (hey, everyone else was doing it) and haven't looked back since. Instead of taking the three weeks before classes start to spend eight hours a day learning a single precision marching show to last us the whole fall football season, we write a new half-time show each week and learn it in about an hour the day before the game (we also have music rehearsals on Thursdays and Fridays). What's our secret? We run, or 'scatter', into each formation, then (generally) stand in place while we play a song before scattering into the next formation. While seeing sousaphone and bass drum players sprinting across a field is more entertaining in and of itself than a traditional marching band show, much of our entertainment value also comes from our script. Each week we write a comical (hopefully) script about the other school and/or current events, which is read over the loudspeaker by our announcer as we scatter. The formation we make and the song we play are the punch-line to the joke. For examples, see our show archive. For those who crave a return to the glory of competitive precision marching, each show begins with us marching onto the field in rows while playing "Dartmouth's in Town Again". At the end of the show, depending on whether or not we've used up the time allotted, we march across the front sideline to the same tune, giving the nifty visual effect of our last formation falling off of the field. For Homecoming, we put together a 'fancy march-out' in which we march on in three rows that transform into a giant D while we play "As the Backs Go Tearing By" and "Glory to Dartmouth". But don't let that turn you off if you've never marched before! We'll teach you everything you need to know. In fact, while most of our members have played an instrument since elementary or junior high school, musical experience is not a requirement for joining the DCMB. We have a long, proud history of band members who play kazoos, kegs, and random auxiliary percussion.
Outside of our halftime and pre-game shows, we play in the stands when there's an offensive down or time out, and also do pre-game parades and concerts for alumni and the town, drawing on the repertoire of songs that we develop over the course of the fall season. In the joyous event that the football team wins a home game, we march all over the town and campus in celebration, even going through the Baker Tower Room (which, for those who aren't familiar with the Dartmouth campus, is a study room so quiet that people turn around and stare if you turn a page too noisily). We also play at events such as the Homecoming Bonfire, the Freshman Night at the Hop, the Freshman Cookout, or Food Court's Mardi Gras.
During winter term, we refer to ourselves as the Winter Band and turn in our green blazers and white pants for green and white rugby shirts (we'll leave you wondering about the pants). Armed with the repertoire of songs that we developed in the fall, we go to basketball and hockey games and play as a pep band. (We did a swim meet once. Because of the acoustics we had to go as a kazoo band. That was interesting.) We do a lot of chanting in the stands and also march around the bleachers between the second and third periods of hockey games. Oftentimes we like to drive fear into the hearts of our enemies by playing our drum cadences as we approach Leede Arena or Thompson Ice Arena.
As much as the DCMB is a musical performing group, it is also a social organization. Throughout the academic year we have events such as bowling, a scavenger hunt, water assassins, potluck dinners or pizza parties, and ice-skating. The band also has several intramural sports teams each term. In the fall we typically play at three away games. One of the away trips always involves a two-night stay in New York City, during which we go out and explore the city in small groups, going to musicals and baseball games or trying to find sleazy wholesale clothing stores. At a designated time, we all meet at the top of the Empire State Building to sing the Alma Mater (and any other songs we know). On the way back we have our traditional dinner at Manero's Steak House, along with the traditional (but voluntary) chugging of Manero's Steak Sauce. And, of course, bus rides are as much fun as you remember them being from high school band, complete with movies and sing-a-longs. Throughout the year we also maintain a social blitz list. Anyone in the band who wants to be involved in impromptu social events is put on this list, and everyone can blitz (email) out to it to see if anyone wants to get dinner, see a movie, go sledding, etc.
So that's the band in a nutshell. To learn even more about us, come to practice or blitz us!