ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020167
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
Standing on the cold, dark asphalt of the Holiday Inn Superdome parking lot, more than 330 Marching Virginians stopped the playing, the talking, the fidgeting to listen to words of inspiration.
After hours of travel and a pizza dinner, it was time to get serious. Many of these students had performed in the 1993 Independence Bowl and the 1994 Gator Bowl, but this trip to New Orleans meant more pressure for everyone - including the band.
"This is the big time, folks," said Dave McKee, band director, who wore a white Virginia Tech sweat shirt to ward off the chill of the New Orleans night. "The amount of learning it took to get here is sizable."
The days for the Virginia Tech marching band have been long. Many band members, faculty and a few guests left on buses from Blacksburg, Roanoke, Richmond and other areas of central and southern Virginia early Friday morning and headed for Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia, where they nearly filled a 380-seat charter flight.
Within the crammed rows, students edged in and out of seats to find friends in the huge cabin, small pillow fights occasionally erupted, and several percussionists pulled out drumsticks to tap on the tray tables during the two-hour-plus flight.
Less than two hours after checking in at the Holiday Inn, band members were unloading about 100 black instrument cases plus sound equipment from a Penske rental truck for a 11/2-hour evening rehearsal under the city lights.
Only the small instruments - flutes and clarinets - were taken on the plane. The tubas, bass drums and other unwieldy instruments traveled by truck, on which they were loaded for a day-long practice Saturday and reloaded for today's game.
"The least favorite part is putting it all back," said Joshua Wirt, a tuba player known to all as Skippy, as he stood by the infamous truck Friday night. "There's so much equipment."
The instruments were the only part of the band that traveled exclusively by road for this bowl. This is the first year the Marching Virginians have taken a plane to a bowl game. Tech's Sugar Bowl budget shows it cost $266,000 to transport and house the Marching Virginians vs. $137,850 for the Gator Bowl.
"This was a tough negotiation with the university to convince them that you were worth flying," McKee told the group on the plane. "Everything you do draws attention to yourself and the band."
The added perk has not been lost on the band members, either. Older Marching Virginians still talk about the bus trip to Shreveport, La., for the Independence Bowl.
"After sitting on the bus for 24 hours, everyone was pretty stinky," said senior Bob Brewer, who plays the cymbals. "But it was well worth it for me. I just love football."
Brewer, a chemical engineering major, is not alone in his love of the game. During most of the five-hour ride from Blacksburg to Dulles, a small contingent of tuba players and other brass section members dissected both college and professional football teams and players for at least four hours at the back of the bus.
The amateur commentary will pick up on the trip home, said sophomore Mike Swann, a trombone player. "Even if we win, we still pick apart everything."
Swann is one of a small group of music majors in the band. Last year's roster showed the 115 engineering students easily eclipsed the 35 music majors. Many band members said they play for fun and to see the football games.
Cheering and trying to rattle the other team are not uncommon in the band section. Although no one quite believes it, the students like to say that ESPN voted Tech the most obnoxious band. In reality, the Marching Virginian style speaks more of fun, especially the perennially crowd-pleasing "Hokie Pokey" song and dance.
"As far as I know, we're the only dancing tuba section," Wirt said.
By contrast, the University of Texas marching band consists of mostly music majors and has a budget that more than quadruples the Marching Virginians', McKee said. He characterized Texas as a far more serious band.
"That's OK," McKee said. "We're a different band."
Band members also are not preoccupied with competition. For them, a bowl game provides added excitement because of the side trips - the famous Bourbon Street has been a hot conversation topic.
Bowl games also help recruiting for the marching band. Since the Independence Bowl, the number of students who try out for the band has swelled to more than 400, forcing McKee to cut even the typically hard-to-find tuba and trombone players, he said.
"In the dark days, if 330 kids showed up to band camp for tryouts, we were happy," said McKee, who has been band director for 10 years.
"This one this year will have the most profound effect on recruiting," he added.
The accommodations and location will help. Sophomore Anna Finkner says a trip to New Orleans will be something to remember. But for her and many others, the thrill of the performance also will be a large part of the trip.
As Finkner said, "There's nothing like a big, huge stadium with thousands of screaming fans - and you're playing."
A Saturday evening pep rally outside the Louisiana Superdome gave the band and Tech fans an opportunity to prepare for today's game. Hundreds of rooters joined the band in doing ``The Hokie Pokey,'' many fortified by cool beer on a night much warmer than the previous one.
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. Holiday Inn guests in New Orleansby CNBare serenaded Friday night as the Tech band practices for today's
Sugar Bowl. 2. Band Director Dave McKee gets his musicians fired up
at practice Friday night in New Orleans. color. 3. Virginia Tech and
Texas fans clog Bourbon Street late Saturday afternoon in New
Orleans.