The marching band closes out its season with final performance. Vanguard Photo | Brooke Elward
The Cardinal Marching Band livestreamed their last fall performance on Nov. 9 from the Harvey Randall Wickes Stadium.
With football games cancelled this semester, all shows were held either virtually or in the President’s Courtyard.
“The last performance of the season is always bittersweet,” said Norman Wika, the band director. “At the end of the season, we have this terrific show that we’ve spent hours putting together.”
The band played more hit songs for its show “iPod Shuffle,” including “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond and “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts.
Wika said the final performance reflected the work the band has done this semester not only to produce a show, but to also overcome COVID-19-related challenges.
Brendan Evenson, an engineering technology management senior, said that because of COVID-19, game nights and other fun activities were also cancelled.
He said he felt they lost a big part of the bonding experience they enjoyed in previous years. Still, Evenson said there was no lack of energy.
“I think everyone brought their best attitude every day because we knew we all needed it,” he said. “Personally, I just tried to crack jokes and keep doing the silly things that I do in a normal year as much as I could.”
Evenson said that overall he was happy with the layout of the show. He said he liked that the band was able to keep the audience entertained despite not being able to perform during a game.
Wika said the performances were well received by the audience. The last show hit 5.8K views on the band’s Facebook page and received many encouraging comments.
All other last business for the band will be conducted in small groups or virtually.
“As always, I’m proud and honored to be the director of the Cardinal Marching Band and could not be happier with the work we put in this season and the show we put together,” Wika said. “The band looks forward to our next season, where we hope to perform for a Cardinal football game.”
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