We hit the big time!

Last Sunday the president of WMU received an invite from The Detroit Lions to have the WMU Bronco Marching Band perform at the Thurday Night Football halftime show.

The Official Invite:

Dear BMB,

I hope you had a wonderful and were able to rest and enjoy time away from WMU. Please read this email carefully.

WMU football is not involved in the MAC Championship game . But we will practice this week as planned for a special opportunity described below.

( ) I got a call from President Dunn with an invitation from the Detroit Lions to perform at halftime of night’s ( ) game against the Green Bay Packers. Pres. Dunn and I were honored that the Lions thought of the BMB for this opportunity and felt that we should accept the invitation. It’s an amazing opportunity and the game will be broadcast on CBS nationwide! In addition, the Lions expect the game to be sold out with over 70,000 fans in attendance!

The itinerary for is not finalized, but kick-off is at 8:25pm. Anyone with class after BMB would need to speak with your professor regarding the possibility of being excused. Pres. Dunn will also communicate with all faculty at WMU explaining this opportunity to showcase the BMB and WMU, and encourage faculty to excuse you from night classes.

The tentative plan is to rehearse at 4pm like normal, then load buses and head to Detroit. Dinner will be provided and I am working with the Lions so we can watch some of the game after our performance. At this point I do not know what time we will return to WMU, but I expect it to be after midnight.

We will be performing the Sing-Along show, Don’t Stop Believin’ and I Will Survive/Uptown Funk. This is also the show that we will use at the bowl game. In order to prepare we will rehearse – this week as planned. Be sure to bring drill charts for both of the above songs.

As I mentioned above, this invitation just came to us and I apologize for the lack of notice. But an opportunity like this is very unusual and worth pursuing when it comes. If you have a serious conflict and cannot resolve it please let me know immediately. I’m hoping that you will recognize the once-in-a-lifetime nature of this opportunity and work to resolve any plans for night that can be rearranged in order to take advantage of this performance opportunity.

I will have more details available at practice on and throughout the week.

Looking forward to seeing you again at practice, and performing at Ford Field on this huge stage!

Dr. Montgomery

This kind of invite doesn’t come around every day so the BMB gladly accepted the invite and will be putting on a show in the “D”! Having this opportunity for an extra performance must be an act of fate; especially because the BMB will not be traveling with the football team to the Bahama Bowl.

OUR DETROIT HALFTIME SHOW IS:

Sing Along With The BMB ( Don’t Stop Believing, I Will Survive, and Uptown Funk)

REHEARSAL Journal:

Mon 11/30: Here we go! Time to start re-learning the show after a long break.

Tue 12/1: The news broke about the bowl game no-go but at least the bad news was delivered by the one and only…. Pres. Dunn!

Wed 12/2: Today was our last regular rehearsal before Detroit and the band, guard, twirlers, and drumline were all on point.

This show will be my last…ever. There is no better way to close out my colorguard career then performing for 70,000 people at a professional sporting event. I will give an update about how my swan song turns out!

Stay Creative!!

-theartistwmu