I would like to address the rude and crude comments made by a student regarding America’s Pep Band in the last issue of The Polytechnic. Harshly criticizing one’s peers is a real way to get ahead in life. Constructive criticism would have been more appreciated. Your suggestions are pretty stupid, and have no backing and no grasp for reality. I’m sure any band members who you think suck will have a few choice words for you, but I will save them. I’ve been playing my instrument for over 10 years, and majority of the band has been playing for at least that long. The band doesn’t have to sound fantastic. We are not professional musicians.
We’re a club of the Student Union that loves hockey, has a strong desire for our Engineers to go all the way to the top, and enjoys playing our instruments. No one in the Pep Band feels embarrassed. RPI’s Pep Band is by far the best musically in the ECAC and probably across most of the rest of Division I ice hockey. We’ve been invited to play numerous gigs, including the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, Dr. Jackson’s introduction at the football season opener, and the Alumni’s Freakout Dinner, to name a few recent ones. We perform community service at heart walks and other events. The Pep Band has been heralded as America’s Pep Band by Sports Illustrated.
Embarrassed? I think not. We’re proud of our achievements. We do not like being scored on. Personally, I don’t know any “real” fan who enjoys watching their team give up a goal or getting called for a penalty, whether the call was good or bad. I’m forced to question your fanaticism for the Engineers. You can call it “death music” if that makes you feel proud of your achievement of “sticking it to the Pep Band.” The reason we play after those events is to drown out the other teams cheers, their fans, their band, or all of the above.
Your next topic dealt with the sound system. In defense of Michael Brown’s letter, he was not bashing the people who play the music. The sound system itself is not very good. One must understand that the Pep Band relies on this system and the people who operate it to cover for us when we need a break. The band cannot possibly play during every single break. The alumnus was angry because the DJ one evening played a song that we played right after we played it. Ideally, all music in the Pep Band library should be stricken from the sound system. The sound system is necessary, and like you said, they play different music—hard rock and such—that we the band also enjoy to add variety.
To briefly address the next section (tips to improve), the band practices every Saturday morning. We spend hours working hard on the pieces we play. It is extremely difficult with over 70 pieces in active repertoire, but the upper-classmen, alumni, and talented musicians allow for us to pull it off. I’m forced to question your fanaticism again. If you’ve only heard five different songs, then you’ve obviously been to only one hockey game, not “many over the past three years” like you falsely claim. The band is entitled to play it’s favorite songs on a regular basis, so if you hear songs like Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4”, or Kansas’ “Carry on my Wayward Son” a few times during the season, deal with it. These are timeless classics of American Rock and Roll. The band probably could sit in the stands, but we’d be taking room away from the real fans.
Clarkson will always suck. Do you have any comprehension of a rivalry? Have you seen the last Freakout and the one two years ago? Oh wait, I forgot, you’ve only been to one game. Everyone in the crowd yells it too. It is a long standing tradition.
Thanks for sticking it to the Pep Band. Next time, try better glue.
Rob Savino
ELEC ’05
