On Saturday, August 31st, Northwestern University’s football team played Miami of Ohio in the season-opener. Although the team made its 2024 season debut at their temporary lakefront stadium, they kept most of the team traditions, including the band playing at halftime. This time, however, our very own ETHS marching band accompanied them, playing alongside the Northwestern band.
Mr. Bufis, the marching band director, discussed the event Northwestern annually holds with high school marching bands. “High School Band Day, in which ETHS and a couple dozen other high school bands learn three tunes to perform as a megaband during the halftime show.” This High School Band Day is a huge recruiting event for Northwestern’s program and is usually the first home game, as the Northwestern students are not back on campus yet and they can accommodate hundreds of high school band members in the stands during the game. He also noted that they would not be able to do this this year because the lakefront stadiums cannot hold such a big event.
Some band members had been looking forward to the experience for a while, but others only heard about it four days before the game.
“Before the game, I had never been to a Northwestern football game or seen the Northwestern band play,” said sophomore Owen Cameron, who plays the alto saxophone. Although he had a short notice, he was ready to play, thanks to the practice the band puts in weekly.
“Evanston Day”, on the other hand, was able to take place this year despite the new stadium’s reduced capacity, as the event only hosts the ETHS marching band alongside the NU band. For this event, the band requires no additional practice and plays the songs they both know or take turns using songs from their books.,
“We have done the ‘Evanston Day’ concept many times before – it’s a wonderful tradition between our two bands,” Mr. Bufis expressed. He also mentioned the Kits, Cats, and Kids Block Party, a second collaboration between the two bands. The event is hosted by ETHS, and promises ETHS band members another chance to play with the wildcats.
