The Golden Thunder Band does a special tribute to the band Queen as their second performance in their first halftime show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The band will be receiving new uniforms next spring, through a $111,000 donation from the James N McCoy Foundation.
“The McCoy Foundation was very generous and donated money going toward the purchase of new band uniforms,” Matthew Luttrell, director of bands and orchestras, said. “The program needed an update on a lot of the equipment that it has.”
The uniforms that the band has now are 12 years old and in need of replacing. Uniforms have a shelf life and the current ones have exceeded it. The sizes of the uniforms as well as the age have also become a problem for the band.
“Students generally nowadays are both larger and taller,” Luttrell said. “And it’s something I’ve even noticed as a college director over the last 15 to 20 years. The guy members who walk in here now who are six four, six five, who are just really tall human beings.”
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The band’s other reason for getting new uniforms is that the McCoy Foundation is donating the marching band uniforms along with new pep band uniforms and drum line equipment that Luttrell says will give the band a new look next year.
“The McCoy Foundation was very generous and donated money going towards the purchase of new band uniforms,” Luttrell said. “The program needed an update on a lot of the equipment that it has.”
In addition the band uniforms do not match the official maroon and gold of the school colors. Luttrell said the first step they took was matching the colors to the school instead of the merlot they are now. There will be no white on the new ones and will prominently display the school colors and the school logo.
“I’m actually really excited about it,” Rianne Busby, history education junior said. “I’m happy that we won’t be using these and hopefully they’ll look a lot better and express more of our colors since we’ve changed them. I’ll miss the tradition of the old ones and the history that they have behind them and the experiences that we’ve had in them.”
The majority of the uniform will be maroon with a gold shield on the front and back. The band colors will follow the 2013 graphic identity.
“The second part of the process is making sure we create a uniform that is significantly more collegiate than the one that we have,” Luttrell said. “The uniforms that we have now are a little mundane, they won’t be ornamented, they won’t have buttons or they won’t have flares, but they’re going to be very obviously Midwestern State uniforms.”
The band members have also talked about having reversible uniforms that will allow for different looks when performing. Luttrell said they could have one with the MSU logo on it for football games, and another that is more esoteric for exhibition or University Interscholastic League performances.
“One of the things we need to do out there is market the university in a different manner and I think uniforms are one of the ways to do that,” Luttrell said. “It gets people excited.”
Band Uniforms
Diondre Chapman, biology freshman, playsin the halftime show in the opening game of the 2015 season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. They preformed the Alma Mater, a tribute to band Queens, and the Fight Song. Midwestern State beat Truman State University 31-3. Photo by Rachel Johnson
Diondre Chapman, biology freshman, playsin the halftime show in the opening game of the 2015 season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. They preformed the Alma Mater, a tribute to band Queens, and the Fight Song. Midwestern State beat Truman State University 31-3. Photo by Rachel Johnson
Diondre Chapman, biology freshman, playsin the halftime show in the opening game of the 2015 season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. They preformed the Alma Mater, a tribute to band Queens, and the Fight Song. Midwestern State beat Truman State University 31-3. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The drumline starts out the halftime show with their tradition march across the football field with the remaining band members rushing onto the field after them, at Memorial Stadium for the first halftim eshow of the season, sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The drumline starts out the halftime show with their tradition march across the football field with the remaining band members rushing onto the field after them, at Memorial Stadium for the first halftim eshow of the season, sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The drumline starts out the halftime show with their tradition march across the football field with the remaining band members rushing onto the field after them, at Memorial Stadium for the first halftim eshow of the season, sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The Golden Thunder Marching Band begins the first halftime show of the year by marching three different performances, Fight Song, The Queen's Tribute, and Alma Mater in the Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Midwestern beats Truman State University 31- 3. Photo by Francisco Martinez
The Golden Thunder Marching Band begins the first halftime show of the year by marching three different performances, Fight Song, The Queen's Tribute, and Alma Mater in the Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Midwestern beats Truman State University 31- 3. Photo by Francisco Martinez
The Golden Thunder Marching Band begins the first halftime show of the year by marching three different performances, Fight Song, The Queen's Tribute, and Alma Mater in the Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Midwestern beats Truman State University 31- 3. Photo by Francisco Martinez
Golden Thunder Marching band starts off their halftime show with a preformance of the Alma Mater in their first show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
Golden Thunder Marching band starts off their halftime show with a preformance of the Alma Mater in their first show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
Golden Thunder Marching band starts off their halftime show with a performance of the Alma Mater in their first show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The Golden Thunder Band does a special tribute to the band Queen as their second preformance in their first halftime show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The Golden Thunder Band does a special tribute to the band Queen as their second preformance in their first halftime show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
The Golden Thunder Band does a special tribute to the band Queen as their second preformance in their first halftime show of the season at Memorial Stadium, Sept. 5. Photo by Rachel Johnson
