Placer pride is on display on Friday nights in the fall under the lights at Lefebvre Stadium. Our home football games have been the main attraction for the city of Auburn for 100 years. In addition to football, the popular halftime show draws a lot of community members to games as well. One of the traditions at Placer High School is that
the band plays the music for the dance team and cheerleaders during the halftime show.
“I really enjoy playing for the dance team and cheerleaders. I think that it adds more and makes it the ideal halftime show,” explains assistant drum major Jack Klopp.
“The dance team and the cheerleaders seemed more attentive with dancing to the band rather than music,” Senior, Jonathan Holman added. The band, dance team and cheer squad are all individual activities that are very dissimilar.
The halftime show gives these three groups a chance to fuse together and put on a great performance.
“I think that it gives us all a way to be connected during the halftime show, because each of us is a part of separate activities. It’s different music to, dance to and it gives us an experience to dance with different choreography,” explained co-captain for dance team, Leah Espenson, who is also a member of the band.
The band has been playing the music for the dance team and cheer squad for five known years however, the last home football game on August 27th, was a little different. The dance team and cheerleaders danced to the music that was part of their rally routine. It was a different experience because students are used to the dance team and cheerleaders dancing to the band.
After watching the halftime show, the crowd realized how different it was. Instead of playing for us and being a part in our performance like everyone was used to, the band just stood there and made no noise. I realized that something was missing from our halftime show and that the dance team, cheer and the band were separate performances instead of just one, unified show.
“It may be hard cheering or dancing to some of the band songs that we play but its tradition and we are known for it,” explained Shandra Barrera, assistant drum major.
“We have the opportunity to purchase different music for the dance team and cheerleaders. For example, we purchased a Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson last year,” explained band president Adam Gilbert. The band is never going to have a technical malfunction like a CD player could possibly have. The band practices songs over and over again to get them perfect when CD music only has one chance to play. Also, the band is always able to be heard and the audience could be causing commotion.
“The crowd is more attentive to the band. You can’t ignore the band, were loud,” said assistant drum major Jack Klopp.
“I would rather dance with the band because it’s safer and they are less likely to make a mistake than music,” explained Alex Garner, dance team and band member.
The crowd at the football games tends to pay more attention to the halftime show when the band plays for the dance team and cheerleaders. When the halftime show goes against tradition, there is more chatter and chaos in the crowd. If the halftime show sticks to tradition, the crowd pays more attention to the show.
“My philosophy is: Why not make a spectacle for our crowd? The crowd loves the dance team, they love the cheerleaders and they love the band. Let’s do something in a way that were all out there together and everyone goes, that’s cool. Philosophically, I would like to see a package where everyone is part of that,” stated band and choir director Dave Lawrenson.
All in all, having the three student performance groups working together to entertain our community is the right way to go. Cheer, dance team and the band are separate groups but when they perform together, the Friday night lights shine a lot brighter in Auburn!