UCLA Bruin Marching Band
The Solid Gold Sound of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band represents the university at major athletic and extracurricular events. During the fall marching season, this 250-member band performs at the Rose Bowl for UCLA Bruin home football games. Pregame shows by the band aim to build crowd energy and enthusiasm with traditional UCLA songs like "Strike Up the Band for UCLA", "Bruin Warriors", and "The Mighty Bruins". Throughout the game, the band performs custom-arranged rock and pop songs, as well as the traditional fight songs and cheers of the university. The UCLA Varsity Band appears at basketball games and other athletic contests in Pauley Pavilion. In 2018, the Bruin Marching Band was featured on the Muse album "Simulation Theory" performing the Super Deluxe version of the song "Pressure." The UCLA band program, which includes the Marching and Varsity Bands, the Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Band, is in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Band appearances at athletic events are funded primarily by student registration fees, a direct allocation from the Chancellor's Office and donations to the Solid Gold Sound Club. In 1993, the UCLA Bruin Marching Band was awarded the Sudler Trophy, an award bestowed on one university marching band every year. Described by a Los Angeles Times reporter as "[t]he Heisman Trophy of the collegiate band world", the award does not represent the winner of any championship, but rather a band surrounded by great music and tradition that has become respected nationally. All marching members and teaching assistants in the Bruin Marching Band are full-time UCLA students. Style The UCLA Marching Band marches in a drum corps style with low mark times and glide steps. Field formations include fast moving precision drill progressions, letter blocks, pictures, concert arcs, and the famous Cursive UCLA formation. The band performs many different styles of shows, depending upon the occasion. The exception to the drum corps marching style is the traditional pregame "run-on" where the band rapidly high-steps onto the field into the block letter U-C-L-A formation. History In 1925, at the Vermont Avenue campus, the UCLA Marching Band originated as a 50-piece ROTC unit under the direction of W. G. Powell. The band was part of the welcoming group when John Philip Sousa visited Los Angeles in 1928, and were directed by Sousa in the performance of "Stars and Stripes Forever". At that time, the director was Ben Laietsky, a member of Sousa's band. The band remained a military group until 1934. In 1935, under the direction of Leroy Allen, the group became an integral part of campus life, providing music at rallies and games. The original uniforms were military style, with military caps and waist-length capes. Under directors C. B. Hunt and Patton McNaughton, the band increased in size to 128 members by 1947. Clarence Sawhill and Kelly James 1952-1982 In 1952, Clarence Sawhill became director of bands. F. (Freeman) Kelly James became the director of the marching band, a position he would hold until suffering a stroke at