Why Join
the Penn Band?
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I’m a
Freshman/Sophomore or Junior Transfer/New Graduate
Student/Penn Student who doesn’t have enough to do,
how do I actually Join the Penn Band?
Congratulations! By clicking on this link you have
joined the Penn Band!
All you have
to do now is show up on Monday September 8, 2008th
at 5:30 PM.
If you know how to play an instrument, and you
own said instrument, that’s great! Bring it
with you and play. If know how to play an
instrument, and you don’t own said instrument,
that’s great! We have tons of loaners, most of
which no longer carry fatal diseases. If you
don’t know how to play an instrument, and you
don’t own an instrument, that’s great! You’re
what we call a drummer.
The Penn Band
welcomes
instrumentalists of all types and talents, from keytar to zither to the more traditional brass,
woodwind and percussionists. If you can make
noises with an instrument, you can join the Penn
Band.
With so many
different options of groups to join on Penn’s
Campus, why should I join the Penn Band?
3 Simple Reasons:
1. Easy to Join, Easy to
Attend
The Penn Band Audition is one of
the most highly competitive in the whole
university. If you can find the Band Room (R.
Greer Cheeseman III Band Room, Room 182 in
the Platt Performing Arts House, it’s right
next to the Quad and behind the Bejing
Chinese Restaurant), you can join the band.
If you can’t find the Band Room, you can
call 215-898-8719. If you can’t find the
Band Room and are unwilling to call the Band
Office Phone, we unfortunately have to
reject you from joining the Band. Sorry.
Once you’ve entered the Band Room you’ll
discover what millions already know: The
time commitment for the Penn Band is
delightfully manageable. During the fall
there are two 2-hour rehearsals and a
football game (one of the rehearsals takes
place on Franklin Field, awesome!) per
week. During the winter and spring
there’s only one 2-hour rehearsal per week
and Men’s and Women’s Basketball Games (as
well as the occasional lacrosse game, track
meet, soccer game; I don’t know, we play at
a lot of games). To get a sense of what it's like to play in the Penn band, check out the Penn Band Chops (trumpets) section website by clicking here.
Attendance is important, but we understand
people have other commitments.
Members are simply required to attend at
least 50% of all Monday night rehearsals,
and attend both the Monday night (music) and
Wednesday night (field show) rehearsals if
they want to perform in that week's pre-game
and halftime shows. This system works well –
our 80+ members show up en force quite
frequently not because they are forced to,
but because they want to! Go figure!
There are benefits to good
attendance - Members who show up to 4 home
games and 8 rehearsals during the Fall
Semester attain Good Standing, giving them
privileges such as voting and preference on
roadtrips where selections are necessary due
to space limitations (such as the NCAA
tournament). Most of our members fall within
this category.
2. Unbelievable Quantities of
Tickets/Food/Travel/Fun Given to You for
Free
In your time as a member of the
Penn Band you will never have to purchase a
ticket to a Penn sporting event. If you
want to take a road trip to Princeton,
Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Cornell or
Dartmouth you can do so, at least twice a
year, for free. In fact, here’s a list of
all the places the Penn Band has recently
traveled to for free and the reason we were
there:
Sports:
Football
Travel all throughout the Ivy
and Patriot leagues! Includes
trips to exotic places such as
San Diego, CA, and......Hanover,
NH!
Men’s and Women’s Basketball
1999 Men’s NCAA Tournament in
Seattle, WA (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
2000 Men’s NCAA Tournament in
Winston-Salem, NC (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
2001 Women’s NCAA Tournament in
Lubbock, TX (ESPN)
2002 Men’s NCAA Tournament in
Pittsburgh, PA (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
2003 Men's NCAA Tournament in
Boston, MA (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
2004 Women's NCAA Tournament in
Bridgeport, CT (ESPN)
2005 Men's NCAA Tournament in
Cleveland, OH (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
2006 Men's NCAA Tournament in
Dallas, TX (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
2007 Men's NCAA Tournament in
Lexington, KY (NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
other sporting venues on
occasion during the course of
the year:
Wrestling
Lacrosse
Men’s Baseball
Synchronized Swimming
Sprint Football
Women’s Volleyball
Men’s Club Ice Hockey
Men’s Swimming
Women's Lacrosse
Women's Softball
Campus Events (occur
regularly every year)
New Student Orientation
Freshman Performing Arts Night
Convocation
Alumni Receptions and Tailgates
Hey Day
Concert on the Green
Alumni Day
Commencement
Special Events that have
occurred over the past few
years:
Club Egypt Pajama Party
Concert at Baltimore Inner
Harbor
1997 Walt Disney World in
Orlando Florida
1999 Walt Disney World in
Orlando Florida
2004 Walt Disney World in
Orlando Florida
2000 Universal Studios Florida
Hershey Park
Dorney Park
Six Flags Great Adventure
2000 WBCA college-all star game
2000 Team USA vs Team China
Women’s Basketball
MSNBC Hardball with Chris
Matthews and Rudolph Gulliani
(2002, NATIONALLY TELEVISED)
ESPN Gameday Live at Franklin
Field (2002, NATIONALLY
TELEVISED)
Fox and Friends Morning Show
(2003, NATIONALLY TELEVISED)
Joint performance with the
University of Virginia Pep Band
(2003, 2004)
Men's Football in San Diego,
California (2004)
Charity Concert for VH1 Save the
Music - High School Band Day
(2005)
Southwest Airlines 4th of July
High School Honor Band (2005)
Men's Lacrosse at Lincoln
Financial Field (2005)
Performance with Rock Legend
Simon Kirke (2007)
If you want to meet doting alumni
who love the band and hence love you, who
may or may not be rich, single and looking
for a young trophy spouse/stud to marry for
money, you can do so for free. You also
receive free food, nearly constantly. By
January last year, Penn Band freshman had
put on nearly 500 pounds apiece;
fortunately, a rigorous training regimen
quickly helped them shed that weight, and
now the band’s as attractive as ever.
3. You Will Probably Make
Friends
Look, honestly, you may or may
not be socially adept, but if you join the
Penn Band it is pretty impossible to not
make friends. In the history of the Penn
Band there has only been one friendless
human being - his name was R. Greer
Cheeseman III. His predicament depressed
him so much that he’s now the band director
and requires us all to be his friends. So I
guess my point is, everyone who joins band
makes friends, even if it takes them a
while.
In High School my
Marching Band was no fun. From marching to
performing the same show week after week. It was
really boring. Why will this be any different?
Well, we don’t march. We’re a scramble
band, which means we run from formation to
formation, while someone tells a joke over
the Public Address system. And all of our
jokes are hilarious because we write them!
Every week during football season we perform
a different halftime show, whether we’re at
home or on the road. Also, if you think the
halftime shows suck, you can show up to Show
Writing (either on Monday or Tuesday) and
we’ll put you in your place, or agree that
you’re funny. Probably not the latter
though.
Look, those reasons
are great, I’m an idiot for not joining immediately
but I still have questions, like, umm… what sort of
music do you play?
The Penn Band has a long
standing commitment to playing the greatest
music ever written. From arrangements
written by professional arrangers to Penn
Band originals we are always looking for new
music to play. Some of the charts we are
currently playing include:
Livin’ on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
Come Sail Away- Styx
Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
Ruff Ryder’s Anthem- DMX
The Legend of Zelda Theme - NES
Carry On Wayward Son-
Kansas
Hey Ya! - Outkast
All the Small Things - Blink 182
Basket Case - Green Day
Additionally, if we don’t own
it, we’ll arrange it, or try to buy it, or
you’ll arrange it, but somehow we’ll get it
and play it. And, if it doesn’t suck, maybe
we’ll play it at a game.
So you play awesome
music, make friends and receive a variety of
wonderful things for free all the time, I’m still
not sold, do you do other things too?
That’s such a disgusting
oversimplification but I suppose I’ll
entertain the question. We perform in front
of thousands of people at sporting events
and represent Penn in many regions of the
country. Once every four years, we record a
CD. Not one of those wussy
4-songs-and-we're-spent efforts. We're
talkin' over 60 minutes of music and mirth!
We write humorous halftime shows for
football games, and most academics and
cultural critics agree that our unsurpassed
wit and flair for social commentary make us
the voice of our generation. Also, we make a
lot of fart jokes.
Additionally, a Band that plays together,
plays together. Outside of the performance
arena, members of the Penn Band do a lot
together. From parties to baseball games to
amusement park trips to bowling to the
annual semiformal, the Penn Band hangs out
together. Many members house together, and
heck, over the years many have even gotten
married! When you join the Penn Band, you're
not only joining a group of musicians,
you're joining a Family - friends who stay
friends long after their undergraduate days
are over.
Remember:
It's better
to play with a group
than to play with yourself…
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