Here We Go, Steelers!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

By Mary Nolte, Cornell Senior High School (Cornell School District)

The Cornell Marching Band recently took a trip to a Steelers Football game on December 2nd.  At the game, the band performed at two different times, once outside for the fans entering the game, and again on Heinz Field as a pre-game show. The performance outside consisted of several songs;  four were from this year's halftime show and the rest were from halftime shows of previous years.  The band performed for two hours and played songs such as "Let's Groove",  "I Love Rock and Roll", "Gimme Some Lovin", and "Seven Nation Army".  After the performance for the arriving fans, the band played two songs, "Rock n' Roll All Nite" and "Vehicle".  They had originally planned to perform their marching drill along with these songs, but the rain made the field conditions too muddy for them to do so.  Instead of performing, the band played their songs from the sidelines.  After they finished performing, the band headed to their seats in the open end zone.  The rain continued for the majority of the game, but most of the band students didn't mind.  The general opinion was that the seats provided an amazing view of the game and of the players.  The trip was an excellent experience and a positive one too.  The Steelers ended up winning the game 24-10 against the Cincinnati Bengals.  Thanks go out to Randy Cosgrove for giving the Cornell Marching Band this wonderful experience.  In other band news, the upcoming concert season is looking promising.  The band has received several new instruments, which make the sound more varied.  They received two new piccolos, one new bass clarinet, one bassoon (which is kind of like a clarinet but has an deeper sound), one bass trombone, and a percussion cabinet.  The band has been practicing for the winter concert since the beginning of the school year and hopes that it is a success.  Come and see them perform on December 19th at 7:00 pm.