The Goin' Band from Raiderland is the 450-member-plus marching band of Texas Tech University. The Wisconsin Band, known for its unique stop at the top high step, performs at the HHH Metrodome during a football game against arch-rival Minnesota. ... Texas Tech University is a nationally recognized doctoral/research university located in Lubbock, Texas, established in 1923 originally as Texas Technological College. ...

History

The "Goin' Band" is as old as Texas Tech itself, having performed at the opening football game in October of 1925, fielding twenty-one (some sources give twenty-five) members dressed in matador-style uniforms. United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1926, Harry Lemaire was appointed director of the marching band (prior to this, direction of the band had been handled by the chairman of the Music Department). Lemaire's credentials were quite impressive; he had been bandmaster under Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War and was a friend and colleague of John Philip Sousa. Under Lemaire, the Goin' Band became the first college marching band to travel to an away football game as well as the first college marching band to have its halftime performance broadcast over radio. 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th (1901–09) President of the United States. ... The Spanish-American War took place in 1898, and resulted in the United States of America gaining control over the former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. ... John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932), popularly known as The March King, is probably the most famous conductor and composer in history of military marches. ...

Interestingly, it was American humorist Will Rogers who made the aforementioned firsts possible. Rogers aided in financing the band's trip to Fort Worth, Texas to perform at the game against Texas Christian University and also helped purchase new uniforms. Rogers explained that he wanted the fans in Fort Worth to see and hear "a real marching band." Will Rogers. ... Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located about 30 miles (50 km) west of Dallas on the West Fork of the Trinity River. ... Texas Christian University (abbreviated TCU) is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas. ...

In 1934, D.O. "Prof" Wiley became director and expanded the band from sixty members to more than two hundred over the next few years. Texas Tech's chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi - the first in Texas - was established during his tenure, and the band's policy of allowing women to participate equally (unusual for the time) led to the founding of the now-nationwide Tau Beta Sigma sorority. 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Kappa Kappa Psi is a co-ed honor fraternity for college bandmembers in the United States of America. ... In 1937, Wava Banes (Henry) and her classmates petitioned D.O. Wiley, band director for Texas Tech University for a band sorority to meet the needs of the growing number of women in music. ...

Dean Killion came to the Goin' Band in 1959. As his predecessor had done, Killion generated another expansion, this time doubling the ranks to over four hundred members. The rapid growth of the Goin' Band during the Sixties caused the band to be nicknamed "Killion's Millions." It was the band's numerous travel appearances at prominent bowl games during this decade that it acquired the name by which it is known today, "The Goin' Band from Raiderland." 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

Killion implemented a number of changes to the band's structure which have now become standard to many marching bands. To ensure that an individual listener would hear a quality performance no matter where they sat in the stadium, Killion arranged shows so that equal instrumentation was always on both sides of the 50-yard line, and that the band played more or less equally to both halves of the stadium. The Goin' Band was the first marching band to utilize this "stereophonic" concept in drill design. Killion also created the "run-on," the distinctive high-knee synchronized running step that the band uses to enter the field in as short a time as possible.

In 1981 Keith Bearden became the first Texas Tech alumnus to become director of the Goin' Band. He continued the style and traditions of previous directors as well as leading the band to new levels of performance. Bearden also opened new venues for the Goin' Band, such as when the band traveled to Ireland to take part in Saint Patrick's Day parades in both Dublin and Limerick. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... St. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ... Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of the Republic of Ireland. ...

The Goin' Band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy in 1999. The Wisconsin Band, known for its unique stop at the top high step, performs at the HHH Metrodome during a football game against arch-rival Minnesota. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

The Goin' Band Today

Christopher Anderson, Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, is the current director of the Goin' Band. He succeeded director Keith Bearden in 2003 upon the latter's retirement. 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In keeping with the campus' Spanish architecture, the uniforms of the Goin' Band are styled after the trajes of matadors, complete with cape and a flat-brimmed "gaucho" hat. Matador Antonio Barrera in the capote de paseo (dress cape) before a bullfight during the 2003 Aste Nagusia festival in Bilbao, Spain A matador (killer) is the main performer in bullfighting events in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. ... Gauchos fight dramatization A gaucho is a South American cattle herder, the equivalent to the North American cowboy in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and (with the spelling gaúcho) southern Brazil, and formerly the Falkland Islands. ...

The Goin' Band's repertoire of performance music varies widely, ranging from traditional marches to jazz pieces to the works of Elton John and Carlos Santana. Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born March 25, 1947) is a rock music singer, composer, and pianist, and is one of the most successful solo artists in music history. ... Carlos Santana in concert, Barcelona 2003 Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born 20 July 1947 in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican–American Grammy Award-winning musician and Latin-rock guitarist. ...

The Goin' Band is unusual amongst college marching bands as it makes use of both traditional-style marching (formations moving goal-line to goal-line such as the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band) and corps-style (formations while playing to the sidelines) in its performances. The majority of college bands tend to favor one style over the other. The Goin' Band also incorporates some of the tactics of scramble bands on ocasion. The Fightin Texas Aggie Band (often just called the Aggie Band) is the precision military marching band of Texas A&M University. ... The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps A modern drum and bugle corps (or drum corps, DCI) is a musical performing unit consisting of only brass, percussion, and color guard. ... A scramble band - also known as a scatter band - is a particular type of field-performing marching band with distinct characteristics that set it apart from other common forms of marching bands; most notably, scramble bands do not normally march. ...

Also unlike at many other schools, the Goin' Band is open to all Texas Tech students, regardless of major or course of study. In fact, a significant portion of the band's membership is not connected to the Department of Music in any way. For this reason, the Goin' Band implements a fast but efficient method of learning new performances that often does not require practices outside of normal class time ("Marching Band" is an actual course at Texas Tech). This allows a wide variety of students to participate without putting extra strain on their other obligations. Four, and sometimes five different shows are performed by the Goin' Band over the course of a season. It is not unusual for the band to learn a new show in five days, have it ready for performance on Saturday, then start again with a new drill the following Monday.

Trivia

Despite claims by the University of Texas' Longhorn Band to the contrary, the Goin' Band was the first of the two bands to play Roland Seitz' "March: Grandioso." The march is unofficially claimed by both bands as a signature piece. The University of Texas at Austin, often called UT or Texas, is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. ...

Directors

• 1925-1926: W. Waghorn (actually the Chairman of the Department of Music, the position of "director" did not yet exist)
• 1926-1934: Harry Lemaire
• 1934-1959: D.O. "Prof" Wiley
• 1959-1981: Dean Killion
• 1981-2003: Keith Bearden
• 2003-today: Christopher Anderson

External links

www.goinband.org, official website