Queen's Bands

The Queen's Bands, established in 1905, is the largest and oldest current university marching band in Canada. They make their home in Grant Hall on the campus of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. This 2008-2009 season, the Bands operations are run by Managers Justin Bell and Raymond Lau, and during performances the Bands are led by Drum Major Erik Smith.

The Bands play a large role in promoting and maintaining school spirit at Queen's. The Bands comprise six distinct units (hence the pluralization of "Bands"): a pipe band , a drum corps, a brass band (which includes woodwinds as well as brass instruments), Highland dancers, the Colour Guard and cheerleaders including the Queen's mascot Boo Hoo the Bear. They are led by a drum major and colour guard. The Bands perform pre-game and half-time shows at all Golden Gaels football games, and lead the crowd in singing the "Oil Thigh" after the Gaels score a touchdown. For home games, the Bands lead a parade of Queen's football fans from the main campus to the football stadium at the West Campus. Once football season ends they are active in festive parades, most notably the Toronto Santa Claus Parade for Christmas, and the Montreal St. Patrick's Day Parade. They are also active during Frosh Week, and have also performed internationally, for example in the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade and the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade. They wear traditional Scottish uniforms complete with kilts and tunics, which the Bands recently purchased for $250,000 with the gracious financial assistance of many donors, most notably the Alma Mater Society of Queen's and former Principal Bill Leggett.

The Queen's Bands is a volunteer organization, comprised mainly of current undergraduates, but it also features some graduate students and occasionally some alumni among its ranks. Members of the Bands come from a wide range of musical backgrounds, some with very little musical training before joining. The main goal of the Bands however, is to have fun and promote the Queen's spirit, so this disparity in musical proficiency does not usually cause a problem. In any given year, the band is likely to have only one or two music majors.

The Bands' office is in the John Deutsch University Centre, while their equipment vault is located in the basement of Grant Hall.

History

The Bands was founded in 1905, when a group of first-year students decided to form a marching brass band "to help things along at football games." The idea did not gain easy acceptance. The 12 original musicians, which included John Bertram Stirling (Queen's chancellor from 1960 to 1974), suffered verbal abuse on parades to the football field and were ejected from the equipment room, where they practised, by the football team. The group dissolved after just two years, and it was not until 1920 that a marching band reappeared. The revived band, unlike the original group, had its own instruments and even uniforms: white duck trousers, tricolour sweaters, and Queen's tams.

The now traditional kilts were adopted only after the Second World War (the tartan worn by the Bands is the Royal Stewart (the official tartan of the British Royal Family); they are one of a select few non-military units to wear this exclusive tartan). A pipe band was added to the troupe in 1925, but did not become a permanent fixture until 1938, at which time highland dancers also appeared. It is unclear when cheerleaders first joined the Bands. "Rooters clubs" were formed early this century to lead students in cheers at Queen's games and appear to have gradually become informally, and then formally, linked with the Bands. Currently, the Bands Cheerleaders is the only student run "spirit group" in the OUA. The Bands has taken care of the mascot of Queen's University, Boo Hoo the Bear, since 1980.

Today the Bands are one of the most well-known groups on campus. Every faculty/group during frosh week can be heard cheering "We love Queen's Bands! We love Queen's Bands!"

External links

* [http://clubs.myams.org/bands Official Site]
* [http://www.pbase.com/goldengaelsphotos/queens_bands A Photo Gallery of the Queen's Bands, by Jeff Chan]