There is a reason the Marching 110 is called “The Most Exciting Band in The Land.”
The Marching 110 performed in Templeton Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Saturday night for their Varsity Show.
Among the audience were families, students and even a bachelorette party.
The band danced along to nearly all of the songs, including Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman,” which was arranged by a band member. The cymbal players were doing hip thrusts during the chorus.
For some of the songs, eight band members would go to the front of the stage and perform dance routines. Some of the dances included the splits and “dabbing.”
Along with the dances during the songs, many of the members did dances in between song changes within their instrument sections.
The members of the band were not the only ones dancing during the performance. Many audience members danced in their seats and clapped to the songs.
“I love it,” Rebecca Fouts, a freshman studying biology, said. “It's bringing back a lot of memories from when I was in high school band.”
The cymbal players used the stage lighting to their advantage by twirling the cymbals to reflect the light.
During intermission, the members of the 110 went into the audience to meet with family and friends. Fouts decided to come to reunite with her high school band, which was introduced during the show.
In between songs, many of the audience members yelled for their friends in the band and cheered them on. One audience member shouted to tell a band member that they were proud of them. When the disco ball came on during a song, the crowd started clapping and cheering.
During the song “Eye of The Tyger,” the band members pretended to box and announced the winner with a bell, and near the middle of the musical performance, the band sang the Alma Mater.
The director of the band, Richard Suk, took a few moments to recognize everyone who helped with the band throughout the season.
Suk also listed all of the accomplishments the band has had over the past years. As they were being introduced, the senior band members were cheered on by their friends and families.
“I’m about to call someone's mom,” Suk said after an audience member shouted when a senior band member was announced.
The seniors lined up through the aisles and high-fived each other as they passed.
"Dr. Suk, I'm going to let you finish, but Ohio University has the best band of all time," BJ Heidlebaugh, the planning chairman of Ohio University Marching Band Society of Alumni and Friends, said before giving a present to Suk. It is Suk’s 20th year as band director.
The present was a framed OU logo that had the same number of gems as songs he has performed over the years, a number that was in the thousands.
After the announcements had been made, the band stood up and danced during the rest of the songs. Members also threw items into the audience as well as ran up and down the aisles during multiple songs.
At the end of the performance, the band danced its way out of the auditorium while the drum line stayed and played more.
“Go Marching 110,” an audience member shouted at the end of a song.
