When the final buzzer for any of the Varsity basketball teams echoes through the North Gym at Manhattan High School, that familiar roar of the crowd is always accompanied by the boisterous sound of the MHS Basketball Pep Band.
Music streams from the corner of the high bleachers, filling the void when there’s a time-out or a break in the game. Every Friday night, the Pep Band accompanies basketball games with an assortment of up-beat songs.
“It’s just a small little modified group, a small version of our marching band here to play some fun stand tunes,” senior rank leader Kimball Morris said. “Just to get the crowd a bit excited and energetic.”
Practice for the Pep Band began after the Big Blue Marching Band’s season’s unofficial ending with their festival performance in October. Gears switched as rehearsals focused on pep band music.
“A lot of it’s the same music we do in marching band,” Morris said. “Where we add more things for Pep Band. So, we have a bit of a wider variety.”
Members of the Pep Band are split into three different sections. Silver, blue and red groups rotate for each basketball game, conducted by one of the three band directors who also switch within the bands. Compared to marching band, where students are reminded during school, pep band is not its own class and members are fully responsible for attending eight or more games to earn credit towards their concert band grade.
“Before every single game we begin to practice,” cymbals section leader Dean Hibbs, senior said. “If the game was at, say, 6:37, we would meet at five and play beforehand.”
Without Pep Band, the gameday environment isn’t complete. The music of the band accompanies a sea of cheering fans to truly bring the games to life.
“It really just brings the energy,” Hibbs said. “People don’t really realize this, having the band there to play the music connects to you personally, and it gets everybody excited… It gives the athletes motivation.”
Any member of each band is allowed to attend a game outside of their rotation. To Pep Band members, they’re responsible to attend each assigned game, but other reasons guide them to the North Gym beyond just duty.
“It’s something where I can connect with friends and also watch an amazing team,” junior percussionist Desmond Williams said. “Watching people around you, enjoying the music, getting to know everybody, that’s what Pep Band is. Doing something you love, with the friends you’ve made in the band.”
