‘A Herculean effort.’ USC band in for whirlwind week, from SC to NYC to Palmetto Bowl
Nearly 400 students squeezed into a caravan of 9 buses early Sunday morning, suitcases and instruments in hand, poised to embark on an hours-long journey north.
The University of South Carolina’s marching band was headed for New York City to perform for one of its biggest audiences yet: the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It will be the first time USC will be featured in the popular parade’s 100-year history, which began in 1924. It was one of 10 selected from more than 100 applicants.
Planning began nearly immediately after the university announced its slot at the parade in September of 2023, and the band has been rehearsing since as early as August. This week will be a marathon for the band. But it is also the culmination of a year of preparation, months of practice and thousands of dollars of support, to represent the Palmetto State in front of millions, and millions more watching from their screen at home.
It’s admittedly a quick turnaround, to go from a football game, to the parade, to another football game, USC band director Jay Jacobs told The State, but well worth it. And logistics and itineraries had already been carefully curated. It’s all about final touches now.
“We’re in good shape,” he said.
Senior drum major Maggie Boyd echoed the same confidence.
“We’re built to be very flexible, we’re used to having a pretty fast-paced performance schedule,” Boyd said. “This is just amped up by ten. it’s all about keeping motivation high. Suddenly, we’re totally locked in.”
An evening performance on Saturday when the Gamecock’s played Wofford College at Williams-Brice Stadium meant that the musicians had to be packed and ready to go as early as Friday — Boyd said Target was full of performers looking for handwarmers and Nyquil. Immediately following the game, much of the equipment was whisked into trucks, ready for the road. Students reported back at 5 a.m. on Sunday for their departure.
After a long day of travel, students were afforded a day to explore New York and check a few things off their bucket lists, Boyd said. Then it was back to work, with practices in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Come Thanksgiving Day, the Gamecocks will have a 3:30 a.m. call time for a final run-through of the performance before showtime. When its all over, the band will have some time to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with one another.
But on Friday they will leave for Greenville at 6 a.m., where they’ll stay before the annual Palmetto Bowl at Clemson University. The band will get a chance to practice for the halftime show early Saturday morning before a noon kickoff time at Death Valley.
The two back-to-back performances, Boyd said, will end the season with a “bang.”
“It’s a Herculean effort,” Jacobs said. “From the very beginning, the administration and the School of Music ... they were like ‘we’re going to make this happen.’”
After the university announced its slot at the parade in September of 2023, it began raising money to reach a goal of $645,000.
Thanks to the generosity of women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, football coach Shane Beamer and USC alumnus and country music star Darius Rucker, the band made that goal. Each donated $25,000 to help fund the band’s trip to the Big Apple. The additional $75,000 donated last week fulfilled the remaining needs.
“The community, university fans, alumni and supporters made this happen for us,” Jacobs said. “Everything we do in New York City, every step we take and every note we play is for all of those people, every single one of them.”
Jacobs said that while he can’t reveal details about their featured performance, which is limited to about 90 seconds, he said fans can expect something “high-energy” and “powerful.” The rest of the route, they plan to perform the USC fight song and other familiar pregame tunes.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Those interested in watching the Gamecocks march can tune into NBC or stream it on Peacock.
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 1:06 PM.
