The Penn Band - A Hetero-Sectional Organization

Picking up on Mel's point about how the band changes over the years, I want to talk for a minute about sections.

Anyone who's ever watched the Penn Band perform probably sees it as a cohesive group, working together toward a common goal - the song, the halftime show, the cheers, whatever. Those within the band see it a little differently. Yes, we're all part of a larger group, but we also have affiliations that make our experience in the band, both musically and socially, slightly different. The closest non-band analogy I can think of is a group of good friends that happen to be of different religions. They hang out together and share common experiences, but in certain circumstances (holidays, Sabbath, etc.) they break off into smaller groups and share experiences that are different than the rest.

When I entered the Penn Band in 1987, the dominant section was the Trumpet section, or the Chops, as everyone called us. The Chops were one of the largest sections (Koosh can check me, but I'd guess we had 15-20 in good standing), not to mention the loudest, the most boisterous, mischievous, and enthusiastic section in the band. We accomplished what the current band calls "cheers" almost exclusively with our horns. I'm sure there was a rule about the band playing during the game, but when the Chops played something on their own, it wasn't really the band playing, it was more like fans cheering (at least that's how we rationalized it - and no one ever called us on it, so there you go). There were the generic cheers (Michigan, Mambo, Tequila), as well as cheers for specific circumstances (injury: Quincy, bad call: Mickey Mouse, great play: Superman). There were also fanfares written specifically for (and often by) the Chops (Love-15, the Chops Medley, the Random Fugue in F Major). We even had our signature song, Joshua, which still exists today, although it's reputation seems to have degraded seriously in the intervening 20 years. Back in the late '80s, the Chops would start Joshua whenever they didn't care for whatever the Drum Major called, and the rest of the band would enthusiastically join in. I have vivid memories of then-President Michael Brose complaining to then-Director Claude White that Joshua should not appear on our album, Live at Smoke's because, "This is not a Chop album!" Today, Joshua is generally met with more of a groan, even by some of the Chops themselves. Sad. Very sad.

I could go on and on about the Chops, but there were other sections with their distinctive personalities as well. The Sousaphones come to mind immediately. Back in the day, there were no fancy Sousaphone covers with professionally printed Split-P logos on them. The Sousaphones would get together before the game, agree on a word to spell, and then paint letters on octag paper and tape them to their bells. The crowd would see it as a statement/joke made by the band, when really it was just the Sousaphone section expressing themselves. The Sousaphones would also (literally) run circles around cops directing traffic when we marched in the streets of Philadelphia, usually to the enjoyment of both the surrounding spectators and the cops themselves.

Then there were the Drummers and the Trombones, who basically combined to form the, well, the rowdy/party crowd in the band. Most belonged to an organization that has existed for decades, but one I hardly hear about anymore: the PGA (Koosh's rules about keeping this blog relatively clean prohibit me from divulging that the acronym stands for). Again, the rules were different back then, but these were the folks who would put a keg of beer in the back of the bus for long road trips, use beer in their cereal instead of milk on the morning of games, and occasionally have trouble showing up on time for and/or staying conscious throughout the entire football game. These folks had their detractors, to be sure, but they definitely added a certain element of fun and spontaneity to the band that wouldn't have been there otherwise.

As the years went on, the membership and personality of these sections changed. In the early '90s, two guys named Howie and Kevin started a brand new section known as the Horney Tones (made up of people who played marching French Horns or Baritone Horns). Howie and Kevin were extremely enthusiastic bandos, arranging events like "The Penn Band Olympics" over senior week (I still have a paper plate with the words "Winner - Longest Wiffle Ball Hit" written in Red and Blue on the back), and various parties and other social activities. As the section grew more popular and visible, Claude wrote them a few fanfares, their membership grew, and they slowly became the new Chops (as defined by the late '80s).

Today's band reflects still more changes. The Trombones are clearly the new Chops (or, perhaps, the new Horny Tones?), complete with fanfares, cheers, and sectional traditions (e.g., "Bonegiving"). The flutes also seem to have their own camaraderie as well, although, as with my experience on of the late '80s/early '90s, it seems to be more inward facing and, on at least one occasion, involved a wild Saturday Night of watching Gilmore Girls DVDs (talk about change...)

I'm sure these personalities will continue to evolve over time, and alums coming back for Homecoming, Alumni Day, etc. will help it along by demonstrating some of the old ways to the young blood coming up through the ranks. The changes are sometimes discouraging, but in the aggregate, they keep the band interesting and enrich the experience for everyone involved.