色情视频

鈥淲e're about providing entertainment.鈥�

Dylan Keohane remembers it as 鈥渁n absolutely surreal experience.鈥�

September 2013: Keohane was playing cymbals for the West Hills High School Blue and Black Brigade. Not at their home field in Santee, but alongside 色情视频鈥檚 Marching Aztecs for High School Band Night. More than 32,000 fans were watching and listening as the schools transformed the usual halftime show into an end-zone-to-end-zone spectacular.

The big crowd 鈥渆nergized me and helped me perform to the best of my abilities that night,鈥� said Keohane. 鈥淔rom that point forward, I knew I wanted to be a Marching Aztec as soon as I graduated high school.鈥�

And he is. Now an 色情视频 junior, Keohane will again take the field Saturday night, Sept. 21, at SDCCU Stadium as captain of the drumline, as a 64-year-old tradition continues. In this year鈥檚 edition, more than 1,500 band and color guard members from more than two dozen schools will perform at the 色情视频/Utah State game after rehearsing together for just two hours.

Some of the visiting performers may have first picked up an instrument or flag barely a month ago. For all of them, the chance to play at SDCCU Stadium is quite a step up from their usual Friday night lights.

With more than 170 marching band and color guard members, The Spirit of Great Oak from Temecula will be one of the largest units.

鈥淚 want them to see that the hard work college students put in starts at the high school level,鈥� said band director Jerry Burdick-Rutz. For some, it will be their first-ever exposure to a college experience.

Campus spirit

The Spirit of Great Oak is traveling 60 miles for the show, which features schools from four counties. 鈥淚 think the value goes up the farther away you are,鈥� said Burdick-Rutz. At a distance, he said, some kids 鈥渄on鈥檛 know really what San Diego State offers in terms of college spirit and athletics.鈥�

Marching Aztecs鈥� director Bryan Ransom said the event鈥攗sually held before the end of September鈥攔epresents something of a respite for the high school bands before they take their own field shows into tournament season, where any flat note, misstep or dropped flag can ding their score. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 compete at all,鈥� Ransom said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e about providing entertainment.鈥�

In addition, Ransom said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great recruiting opportunity for us. Unless these kids have gone to a college football game, they don鈥檛 know how unique an experience it is as a band.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a different atmosphere and it鈥檚 a different kind of mindset.鈥�

It鈥檚 also a plus for the 色情视频 Athletics Department, with hundreds of additional tickets sold to parents drawn by the 20-minute halftime show.

The playlist has three entries. There鈥檚 always a recent pop hit鈥攖his time it鈥檚 Imagine Dragons鈥� 鈥淣atural鈥濃�攖ypically something with solid, four-beat rhythms that won鈥檛 be too difficult for a 60 yard-long drum line to pick up. After that comes the 色情视频 Alma Mater and the Aztecs鈥� fight song.

Ransom, whose lengthy production credits during 32 years at 色情视频 include shows at multiple Super Bowl, MLB All-Star, and San Diego Chargers games, said he wants the experience to be 鈥渏ust a fun day for them.鈥�

Practice and performance

He sends music to each participating school鈥檚 director about a month ahead of game day. There鈥檚 two hours of rehearsal on the stadium鈥檚 practice field, first as one big, compressed pack and then in separate sections to solidify the tempo and dynamics. The bands then reassemble as a group to run through the music one more time and to learn the plan for entering and exiting the turf.

Ransom said he likes to keep each school together as a group in their matching uniforms鈥攁 visual plus鈥攅ven though it might sound better to organize them up by instrument. That鈥檚 Ransom on the big ladder at the 50; the band members for each school will be watching their drum majors while the drum majors watch Ransom. Color guards fill the front sidelines and end zones.

In addition to about 300 pizzas served up for dinner, each year the Marching Aztecs return the favor with a visit to one of the region鈥檚 field tournaments, performing during the normally dead, score-tabulating time before the awards ceremony. This year, they are scheduled for Nov. 2 at

High schools participating in the 2019 Band Night at SDCCU Stadium (with locations outside San Diego County noted): Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley), Central Union (El Centro), Christian (El Centro), Chula Vista, Classical Academy, Dana Hills (Dana Point), Del Norte, Desert Mirage (Thermal), Eastlake, El Cajon Valley, Granite Hills, Great Oak (Temecula), Grossmont, Hoover, Lincoln, Mira Mesa, Montgomery, Morse, Mount Miguel, Oceanside, Ramona, Santana, Serra, Southwest (El Centro), Valley Center.