Ohio State Marching Band shows off its skills in hometown concert

Alyssa Jacobs
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 04:07:17 +0000
Arts & Life, Music, Christopher Hoch, featured, Hang On Sloopy, hometown concert, i wanna go back to ohio state, mershon auditorium, mitch kahn, Ohio State athletics, ohio state marching band, the best damn band in the land, wexner center, wexner center for the arts

The Best Damn Band In The Land will take its sound to the Mershon Auditorium stage during its annual hometown concert at 3 p.m. Sunday.

The concert is a longstanding tradition at Ohio State and is a chance for the band to show off its musical talents outside the realm of football and other Ohio State sports.

Among the musical selections will be songs from the marching band’s popular halftime shows, as well as classic Ohio State anthems.

Mitch Kahn, a sousaphone player and fourth-year in biomedical engineering, said this year’s music will be a mixture of tunes played during Ohio State game days. This will be Kahn’s fourth Hometown Concert.

“We run through about three-fourths of each show we have performed throughout the season as well as some classics like ‘I Wanna Go Back to Ohio State’ and ‘Hang on Sloopy,’” Kahn said. “A few members from each section will play a song to demonstrate their instrument as well.”

Christopher Hoch, the marching band’s director, said, in a way, the marching band has been preparing for this concert all season. That’s because it is a culmination of all game-day material, the band has been practicing at every football home game.

“Our audience typically expects the traditional school songs from us, so we aim to please,” Hoch said.

Since the halftime show setlist changes for every home game, Khan said rehearsals are always necessary to refresh some of the tunes.

“We run through the music a couple of days prior to the concert,” Khan said, “For the most part the music is easy to get back into our heads because we have all memorized the music at some point.”

Of course, the new setting requires some adjustments to be made. The band will be practicing this week for an entrance into the Mershon auditorium instead of a stadium.

Tickets are $15 for students, faculty, staff and seniors and $18 for the public. They are available to purchase through the Wexner Center for the Arts.