Vandals Marching Band

They call themselves The Sound of Idaho, and they've done a great job of keeping the home crowd going at games. The University of Idaho marching band is the best marching band I've seen in Idaho. Even ESPNU took the time to put together a short package about the band and UI's music program while they were in town for the Vandal football games this pat Fall.

The marching band is truly a labor of love for Silver and Gold pride and for the love of music. Whether the football team is winning or losing, the 150-member band is there to support them and the school, often arriving to games two hours early and staying long after it's over. The band practices five hours per a week, five days a week, they start learning their music for the year during the summer and arrive on campus a week before fall semester to begin practices. All of this is done out of love and compensated with a $300/year scholarship--and the proud support of the Vandal family. First-time band members receive a $200 scholarship, the $300 kicks in for the years after that. "No one's dumb enough to do it for the money," says director Torrey Lawrence on the University of Idaho website. It is done for the fans, for the teams, for the pride, and for the music.

When I attend a Vandals game (which is every home football game, and several basketball games) I make it a point to be as near to the band as possible. The energy of those dedicated students is infectious and really helps energize the fans.

And apparently the tubas like beer. Just sayin' you can't help but love these guys!

GO VANDALS!