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‘From the Land of Roses’
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BY LUKE SKERPON
Early in the morning on Monday, Dec. 29, 2008, two chartered aircraft carrying the Penn State Blue Band left the University Park, Pa., Airport en route to Los Angeles for the 2009 Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi. This is a journal of the events, and details of the trip ... an experience of a lifetime!
Monday, Dec. 29
After a four-hour rehearsal at Penn State’s Holuba Hall, the indoor football facility, and a short night’s rest, it was an early morning — 5 a.m. — wake-up call for the Blue Band. We all bused from our parking deck to the University Park Airport, where we checked in through security, and then boarded the plane for our flight to Los Angeles (LAX). After a brief re-fueling stop in Kansas City, the Blue Band was in the Land of Roses!
Upon arrival in Los Angeles, we were quickly bused to our hotel, our home for the next few days, the Sheraton Universal, inside the Universal Studios/City Walk complex. After the six-hour plane ride, most people were ready to crash for the rest of the day — however, we still had a full day ahead of us! Shortly thereafter, we left for a half-hour ride to Glendale Community College, where we used their football complex as a practice facility for another three-hour rehearsal. There was a lot of rehearsing to do — from pregame, to parade order, to halftime! After getting many of the cobwebs out from our three-week vacation over Christmas, we got our shows back to performance-ready!
Tuesday, Dec. 30
There seemed to be a theme of very early morning wake-up calls on this trip! Another 7 a.m. departure on Tuesday took us once again to Glendale CC for our final rehearsal of the season before our performances began. Looking back to our very first rehearsal of the year, and where we were at this point — the accomplishments that we had made were amazing!
From here, we bused to Disneyland. Upon arrival, we were taken to the “backstage” areas at Disney, where we prepared for our performance. The percussion cadence of our ever popular “Parade Order” began, and we marched down Main Street USA in Disneyland to City Hall for our pep rally. Many fans lined the street, and cheered PSU on as we performed our fight songs, and our Rose Bowl Halftime Show. Following the pep rally, and a short parade through Disney, we got to spend the rest of the day until midnight enjoying the many attractions at Disney — which turned out to be our only “free” time on the trip — the rest of the time we were on the move!
Wednesday, Dec. 31
One day until game day! After enjoying a breakfast at the Hard Rock Café — Hollywood, our trip performances continued. We traveled to Beverly Hills High School for the Penn State Alumni Association Pep Rally. Here we once again performed the PSU fight songs, our halftime show and a few pep tunes. The crowd of more than 20,000 PSU fans was visited by President Graham Spanier, the PSU cheerleaders, and finally the football team and Joe Paterno — who got the crowd fired up and ready for the game the next day!
As if that weren’t enough for one day, as soon as we got back to our hotel — following a very quick turnaround time, it was back to the road for our trip to Universal Studios. We performed another pep rally at Universal, and then rang in the New Year with the East Coast (at 9 p.m. PST) at Universal, at a Penn State New Year’s celebration party (that) had been set up for us and some of the fans that were there as well.
With what we all knew was coming the next day ... it was early to bed (way before the West Coast New Year had arrived)!
Thursday, Jan. 1
IT’S GAMEDAY! When we normally say that in the Blue Band, that traditionally means a quick morning rehearsal, a half-mile march up University Drive to the Bryce Jordan Center, Tailgreat (a pregame performance), and then the game. “Gameday” at the Rose Bowl, however, took on a whole new meaning!
The day started off with a 5 a.m. wakeup call, and we were out and on our way to Pasadena, to our Tournament of Roses Parade lineup spot. We call this “hurry up and then wait” as everything is like clockwork at this parade — seeing as how they have been doing it forever, this being the 120th parade. We were only given five minutes to get off the buses and to our spot … then wait until step off.
After marching ... and marching ... and marching ... and marching some more for 5 1/2 miles we finally saw the end of the parade. We were told there were over 1 million people in attendance, and I can’t even begin to venture a guess at how many times we played the fight songs! There were certainly a lot of people in blue and white along the route, and of course — as many in gold and maroon as well.
Once we were back on the buses, we were taken by a police motorcycle escort to the Rose Bowl. As we were pulling in — fans were running at our buses, some cheering “The Blue Band is here,” some waving to us, and some screaming “WE ARE…”
Upon arrival, we immediately were escorted to our alumni event area, where we did our traditional Tailgreat performance, and then it was on into the stadium. While waiting, I was able to shake hands with Kirk Herbstreet and Lee Corso, from ESPN’s College Gameday — we got to be right on the sideline for a while as the teams were warming up. After this — it was PREGAME time! The percussion went out, and just like that pregame began. The LIONS floated, the PSU Alma Mater was played, and the drum major made the flips! The first half was filled with a lot of looking around and taking everything in, and before we knew it — it was time for halftime, where we performed our “Queen” show featuring: “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Bicycle Race,” “Somebody to Love” and “We Are the Champions.” Both of these performances, in my opinion, and the opinion of many others playing and those watching — were the best of the Blue Band for the season.
Even though the game’s outcome didn’t turn out the way we had all hoped ... the experience of just being there, and being able to say, “I marched in the Rose Bowl” was satisfaction for all of us in the band. I will say, though, I will be completely satisfied if I never hear the words “fight on” or hear the USC band’s “Fight On” song — EVER again! Our band kept a tally of how many times they played it ... we stopped counting when they got to 50!
After a very long day, we were all ready to relax, and recover from the day’s events. What a day it was!
Friday, Jan. 2
We encountered yet another early morning, as we woke up at 7 a.m. in time to eat breakfast, and make our way to LAX to charter our way back to State College. Leaving the mid-70s weather was very difficult. When we stepped off the tarmac in State College we were greeted with a welcome-home present of high winds, and 31 degrees!
Summary
Being able to be a part of only the second Blue Band EVER (which has been in existence since 1899) to participate in the Tournament of Roses was an experience that I will never forget. It sure had its long hours, early mornings and LONG parade, but every minute of it was worth it. It is an experience I will never forget.
For the glory ... WE ARE! PENN STATE!
Monday, Dec. 29
After a four-hour rehearsal at Penn State’s Holuba Hall, the indoor football facility, and a short night’s rest, it was an early morning — 5 a.m. — wake-up call for the Blue Band. We all bused from our parking deck to the University Park Airport, where we checked in through security, and then boarded the plane for our flight to Los Angeles (LAX). After a brief re-fueling stop in Kansas City, the Blue Band was in the Land of Roses!
Upon arrival in Los Angeles, we were quickly bused to our hotel, our home for the next few days, the Sheraton Universal, inside the Universal Studios/City Walk complex. After the six-hour plane ride, most people were ready to crash for the rest of the day — however, we still had a full day ahead of us! Shortly thereafter, we left for a half-hour ride to Glendale Community College, where we used their football complex as a practice facility for another three-hour rehearsal. There was a lot of rehearsing to do — from pregame, to parade order, to halftime! After getting many of the cobwebs out from our three-week vacation over Christmas, we got our shows back to performance-ready!
Tuesday, Dec. 30
There seemed to be a theme of very early morning wake-up calls on this trip! Another 7 a.m. departure on Tuesday took us once again to Glendale CC for our final rehearsal of the season before our performances began. Looking back to our very first rehearsal of the year, and where we were at this point — the accomplishments that we had made were amazing!
From here, we bused to Disneyland. Upon arrival, we were taken to the “backstage” areas at Disney, where we prepared for our performance. The percussion cadence of our ever popular “Parade Order” began, and we marched down Main Street USA in Disneyland to City Hall for our pep rally. Many fans lined the street, and cheered PSU on as we performed our fight songs, and our Rose Bowl Halftime Show. Following the pep rally, and a short parade through Disney, we got to spend the rest of the day until midnight enjoying the many attractions at Disney — which turned out to be our only “free” time on the trip — the rest of the time we were on the move!
Wednesday, Dec. 31
One day until game day! After enjoying a breakfast at the Hard Rock Café — Hollywood, our trip performances continued. We traveled to Beverly Hills High School for the Penn State Alumni Association Pep Rally. Here we once again performed the PSU fight songs, our halftime show and a few pep tunes. The crowd of more than 20,000 PSU fans was visited by President Graham Spanier, the PSU cheerleaders, and finally the football team and Joe Paterno — who got the crowd fired up and ready for the game the next day!
As if that weren’t enough for one day, as soon as we got back to our hotel — following a very quick turnaround time, it was back to the road for our trip to Universal Studios. We performed another pep rally at Universal, and then rang in the New Year with the East Coast (at 9 p.m. PST) at Universal, at a Penn State New Year’s celebration party (that) had been set up for us and some of the fans that were there as well.
With what we all knew was coming the next day ... it was early to bed (way before the West Coast New Year had arrived)!
Thursday, Jan. 1
IT’S GAMEDAY! When we normally say that in the Blue Band, that traditionally means a quick morning rehearsal, a half-mile march up University Drive to the Bryce Jordan Center, Tailgreat (a pregame performance), and then the game. “Gameday” at the Rose Bowl, however, took on a whole new meaning!
The day started off with a 5 a.m. wakeup call, and we were out and on our way to Pasadena, to our Tournament of Roses Parade lineup spot. We call this “hurry up and then wait” as everything is like clockwork at this parade — seeing as how they have been doing it forever, this being the 120th parade. We were only given five minutes to get off the buses and to our spot … then wait until step off.
After marching ... and marching ... and marching ... and marching some more for 5 1/2 miles we finally saw the end of the parade. We were told there were over 1 million people in attendance, and I can’t even begin to venture a guess at how many times we played the fight songs! There were certainly a lot of people in blue and white along the route, and of course — as many in gold and maroon as well.
Once we were back on the buses, we were taken by a police motorcycle escort to the Rose Bowl. As we were pulling in — fans were running at our buses, some cheering “The Blue Band is here,” some waving to us, and some screaming “WE ARE…”
Upon arrival, we immediately were escorted to our alumni event area, where we did our traditional Tailgreat performance, and then it was on into the stadium. While waiting, I was able to shake hands with Kirk Herbstreet and Lee Corso, from ESPN’s College Gameday — we got to be right on the sideline for a while as the teams were warming up. After this — it was PREGAME time! The percussion went out, and just like that pregame began. The LIONS floated, the PSU Alma Mater was played, and the drum major made the flips! The first half was filled with a lot of looking around and taking everything in, and before we knew it — it was time for halftime, where we performed our “Queen” show featuring: “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Bicycle Race,” “Somebody to Love” and “We Are the Champions.” Both of these performances, in my opinion, and the opinion of many others playing and those watching — were the best of the Blue Band for the season.
Even though the game’s outcome didn’t turn out the way we had all hoped ... the experience of just being there, and being able to say, “I marched in the Rose Bowl” was satisfaction for all of us in the band. I will say, though, I will be completely satisfied if I never hear the words “fight on” or hear the USC band’s “Fight On” song — EVER again! Our band kept a tally of how many times they played it ... we stopped counting when they got to 50!
After a very long day, we were all ready to relax, and recover from the day’s events. What a day it was!
Friday, Jan. 2
We encountered yet another early morning, as we woke up at 7 a.m. in time to eat breakfast, and make our way to LAX to charter our way back to State College. Leaving the mid-70s weather was very difficult. When we stepped off the tarmac in State College we were greeted with a welcome-home present of high winds, and 31 degrees!
Summary
Being able to be a part of only the second Blue Band EVER (which has been in existence since 1899) to participate in the Tournament of Roses was an experience that I will never forget. It sure had its long hours, early mornings and LONG parade, but every minute of it was worth it. It is an experience I will never forget.
For the glory ... WE ARE! PENN STATE!
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| Two Valley natives perform in Rose Bowl | Correction |
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Doug wrote on Jan 5, 2009 10:21 AM: