In true Marching 110 form, Ohio University’s marching band was looking to reign on as the “Most Exciting Band in the Land” when it headed to Monday Night Football this week.
Following yet another “viral” hit on Saturday, the Marching 110 took “The Fox” to halftime as the Cincinnati Bengals faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 110’s performance at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati featured material taken from the band’s latest show when the Bobcats played Marshall University on Saturday.
At that performance, the marching band performed “The Fox” by Norwegian duo Ylvis. Through Sway the Crowd, a Columbus-based video production group, the band put out a video of the performance, and, as with big performances from previous years, the video’s views keep climbing. At press time, the video of “The Fox” had 473,182 views and had been carried on websites such as Spin Magazine, The Huffington Post and Deadspin.
The band performed the viral song again — as well as “Treasure” by Bruno Mars — at the Bengals-Steelers game, said Andrew Trachsel, director of bands at Ohio University.
Trachsel said the halftime performance at the Bengals game was another way for the 110 to reach a broader audience, just like the video that has been spreading across the Internet.
“It is an opportunity to perform in front of 50,000 or 60,000 people,” Trachsel said.
He added that the 110 regularly plays at least one NFL game a year, with the band making appearances in Cincinnati and Cleveland last year. This time around, it will head back to Paul Brown Stadium and to The Meadowlands for the New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles.
Jade Hunt, a clarinet player with the 110 and senior studying psychology, said playing at the NFL games makes for an exciting performance because of the larger audience.
“The fans seem way more intense so they keep us on our toes (during a performance),” Hunt said. “When there are so many people already that (are) into what’s going on on the field, come halftime we know we have to give them a good show.”
Hannah Meixner, a junior clarinet player studying geological sciences, echoed Trachsel’s sentiments that the performances away from home help expand the audiences the 110 reaches.
“It’s always downright awesome to perform in Peden because we always receive such a great reaction from the students,” Meixner said. “But sometimes, it’s equally even more exciting to play on the road … because we’re usually playing for larger crowds who have no idea what’s in store.”
ds834910@ohiou.edu
