The Howard University Showtime Marching Band performed at the Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Monday, March 31. While the Nets lost against the Charlotte Hornets, HU Showtime sparkled, with the performance serving as a highlight of many band members’ season.
According to the NBA, over 18,000 people attended the “HBCU Homecoming” themed-game, which was complete with an HBCU college fair earlier in the day, a stepshow from Divine 9 sororities and fraternities, a collaboration between Howard’s Ooh La La! Dance line and Brooklynettes dance team and a halftime show starring the HU Showtime band.
The preparation for the performance was short due to the band’s performances at the NCAA National Championship tournament, where both the men’s and women’s teams played. Despite the shortened practice time, a majority of the songs performed, including “Empire State of Mind,” “Big Poppa,” “Hypnotized,” “Ghetto Music,” and “I’m Dreaming,” were new for the team.
The score was especially beloved by Alana Gulley, a junior psychology major from Atlanta, who leads the clarinet section. Often, her section cannot be heard during performances due to the way the music is written, so listening to the recordings excited Gulley.
“We were able to play in the upper register where we can be heard over the band, which was a really proud moment for me,” said Gulley.
“I want our section to be heard because then you can really understand the purpose we serve in the instrumentation of the band,” she added.
Cana Brooks, a junior sports management major from Normal, Illinois, also plays clarinet for the Showtime band and said the atmosphere made the performance.
“When the crowd is giving us energy, we mirror that energy and give it back to them ten times, and the crowd was definitely packed,” said Brooks.
According to the Barclays Center website, the venue has a capacity of 19,000, and 18,000 tickets were sold.
“We were waiting for a while and ‘bam’ we go out, and you hear all this energy and all these fans cheering you on,” said Brooks.
Despite the quick turnaround, Brooks said she was confident that Showtime would pull off a great performance.
“Working with a bunch of people who are very good at what they do and very disciplined makes a turnaround like that so much easier,” said Brooks
In recent years, the HU Showtime band has played at the Portland Razor’s halftime show, the US Open and escorted former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2021 presidential inauguration.
The Showtime band season officially ends after basketball season, but plays as requested until Howard’s Commencement in May. Reese Pickett, a freshman music performance major from Prince George’s County, Maryland, plays mellophone for Showtime, was overall excited for the end of this season as a precursor for the next.
“As the semester comes to an end, it’s bittersweet, but I can’t wait for next semester because I know we’ll do better things,” Pickett said.
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson-Philmore
