Beer Band faces uncertain future

A longstanding Iowa City tradition is coming under scrutiny after University of Iowa officials received complaints that lyrics sung along with roving musicians have crossed the line from crude trash talk and entered the realm of violent misogyny.

For decades, groups of brass musicians calling themselves the Beer Band have traveled to local bars on the night before a Hawkeye home football game and played fight songs in exchange for beer and other beverages. But on a recent Friday night, an onlooker reported hearing lyrics that included "gang rape, gang rape, twice a day."

As controversy over the Beer Band has flared at various points over the past quarter century, officials have repeatedly reasserted that UI, and specifically the Hawkeye Marching Band, has no direct affiliation with the unofficial tradition. Concerns about the Beer Band tradition have been raised previously as university and community officials have focused on addressing binge drinking and sexual assault in the downtown area.

Former UI President Sally Mason instituted a six-point plan last year for improving UI's response to sexual violence and a rape culture in the broader community. Among other points, the plan calls for working with local groups to train bystanders to intervene when they see behavior heading in a dangerous direction.

Recent complaints against the Beer Band have reached the point that Hawkeye Marching Band Director Kevin Kastens and other band leaders decided none of the marching band's 255 members will participate in the tradition.

“The standards to which we hold our current members are higher than the expectations for the average Iowa student,” Kastens wrote in an email Monday to Lenore Maybaum, a faculty member of Kirkwood Community College who earned her Ph.D. at UI in 2013.

As a former high school drum line member, Maybaum said she was excited late Friday night when she came upon a public marching band performance on Iowa City's pedestrian mall. Given that it was the night before the game against the University of North Texas — and being familiar with band culture — she fully expected that lyrics would contain some crude trash-talk against UI's opponents along with some references to sex and drinking.

But Maybaum, who has lived in the Iowa City area since 2005, said she wasn't expecting to hear repeated, shouted lyrics that included the f-word and references to gang rape and oral sex.

"I'm not a person easily upset, and I'm certainly no prude," Maybaum wrote in a Facebook post. "But what I witnessed that night made me physically ill. I turned to a female participant to ask what the hell it was I just heard, so sickened and in shock I felt, to which she responded, both sympathetic and resigned: 'The culture's changed. I'm sorry you're so upset.' This, from a young woman maybe 19. Maybe."

Not satisfied with Kastens' initial denials of any official connection between the marching band and the Beer Band, Maybaum pushed for a stronger institutional response — especially after learning that Beer Bands over the decades have tended to include active and alumni marching band members.

"It was reported back to me by my top two Hawkeye Marching Band student leaders (drum major and band manager) that a discussion took place this afternoon with HMB members who also happen to participate in Beer Band," Kasten said via email Tuesday night. "It was decided that HMB members will no longer participate in Beer Band for the remainder of the season, if ever again. Their decision will most likely bring a halt to this activity on future Friday nights."

Brad Temple said the lyrics cited by Maybaum -- along with ones that, until Tuesday, were featured on the website ICBeerBand.com -- were not reflective of his experience with Beer Band performances at The Summit, 10 S Clinton St.

“Frankly, if you follow the Beer Band around, you’ll see that they are one of the most fun things happening in Iowa City (on the night before a game)," said Temple, who is a managing partner of the bar and restaurant.

Temple said his employees have participated in the sexual-assault prevention workshops offered through the Rape Victim Advocacy Program and other UI groups. And if they had heard anything like the lyrics quoted, the band would have been kicked out.

“I’ve heard every Beer Band performance for the past three years, and I’ve never heard any sexually vulgar comments," Temple said.

ICBeerBand.com shuttered its online doors Tuesday after receiving complaints about the alternative lyrics to various fight songs featured on the site.

“As is often the case, vulgarity and buffoonery often converge when fans, young and old, gather to speak ill of their rivals,” a post read Wednesday on ICBeerBand.com. “… We felt that pulling the content of this site was in the best interest of the UI community.”

The various lyrics on ICBeerBand.com contained many unprintable phrases, but none of the songs viewed Tuesday by a reporter — before the lyrics were deleted — included the passages cited by Maybaum.

“While the language referenced in that Facebook post has never appeared on this site, a review of the material here revealed several posts containing language not in keeping with the values of this site or of its creators,” the website reads. “While we do not believe all of the material posted here ever was offensive, we feel strongly that issues of rape are not humorous and that the fact that sexual references which could be construed in that context existed on this site was not acceptable.”

After apologizing for hosting the offensive lyrics, the website encouraged “the current Beer Band to rethink its material” while also urging UI officials and the Iowa City community to continue to support a more tempered version of the game-night musical festivities.

“The Beer Band is an iconic Iowa football tradition which has been featured in regional, national, and international media,” the website reads. “There is no reason that this generally well liked tradition cannot continue with a song list that is edited to remove lyrics and actions which support sexual violence.”

In an email Thursday, the creators of ICBeerBand.com declined to identify themselves and declined further comment.

It’s unclear, however, what the future holds for the Beer Band tradition after Oct. 9.

Some members of the UI Alumni Band -- after participating in the Homecoming Parade -- traditionally participate in the Beer Band activities on the Friday night before UI's Homecoming game, scheduled for Oct. 10.

“That is an independent group activity,” said Jeff Kueter, president of the UI Alumni Association. “From my perspective, if they do it respectfully and responsibly and have a good time, then they ought to be able to do what they remember doing when they were students.”

Although the lyrics to Alumni Beer Band songs are sometimes crude — and more than 40 years old — they haven't included the references that triggered the recent complaints.

“Most of the people who are participating in these beer band activities are out there to have fun and provide a good experience,” Kueter said. “What happened on the ped mall a week or so ago, that’s beyond the pale.”

In a phone interview Wednesday, Maybaum reiterated she hopes the longstanding musical tradition can continue, but she had to say something about lyrics that "so clearly crossed the line" — especially in Iowa City, "with its already pervasive rape culture."

“From the conversations I’ve had with multiple people, there won’t be a Beer Band anymore,” said Jack Frank, manager of the Hawkeye Marching Band. “It's really unfortunate that this group didn’t receive some negative reaction to their actions long before things escalated to this point.”

Frank thanked Maybaum and the other community members who brought their recent concerns to the attention of band officials.

“If they hadn’t said something now, things probably would have continued to go further in the wrong direction until something worse happened,” Frank said.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at 319-887-5435 or jcharisc@press-citizen.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jeffcharis.