Members of
Tennessee State University's marching band are certainly no rookies in the national spotlight. The 220-member group took their talent to the Midwest during the Sept. 26 Rams-49ers match-up at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
The halftime show performance, which was nationally televised on the NFL Network, was not the group's first appearance at an NFL game. They've performed in front of thousands of NFL fans in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, and play at one or two home Titans games each season. The
"Aristocrat of Bands" has shared their distinctly soulful style during countless bowl games and has marched down the streets of our nation's capital at two presidential inauguration parades.
The opportunity to play during halftime fell right into the students’ hands, according to director of bands Dr. Reginald McDonald. The band was planning to be in St. Louis for the Gateway Classic football game later that week. Artis Twyman, senior director of communications for the Rams, just so happens to be a TSU alumnus and immediately invited the band to play when the TSU staff let him know they were coming to town.
The band had 12 days to put together the six-minute halftime program for the NFL game, the pep rally for the Gateway Classic and parade, then a separate halftime show for the Classic. This group sure knows how to pack a punch on the road!