Boston College Marching Band

The Boston College Marching Band (BCMB), also known as the Boston College "Screaming Eagles" Marching Band, is the marching band for the Boston College Eagles. Founded in 1919, The Band is the largest and most visible student organization at Boston College. The Band represents the school at home football games, most bowl games, international events, and parades.

Band
The Boston College Marching Band has over 180 members and is under the direction of David Healey. The Band consists of the following sections: high brass, low brass, woodwinds, battery, front ensemble, dance team, and color guard. Professional section instructors and student leaders oversee and facilitate all rehearsals and performances. While auditions are not required for instrumentalists, they are required for visual team members and are also required for the positions of assistant conductor as well as Drum Major.

While most members of the BCMB are students of Boston College, the Band also has a partner-school program. The program incorporates a wide variety of students from Boston based institutions. Prominent schools include Berklee College of Music, Emerson College, Emmanuel College, Northeastern University, Simmons College, Suffolk University, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. All Boston area college students can join the Band.

The Band performs two different half-time shows a year, in the drum and bugle corps style of marching. These half-time shows, which are 6 minutes in length, usually consist of 30-40 sets. The Band also performs in the stands during the game, electrifying the fans with a wide repertoire of music.

Their current halftime show arranger is composer and arranger Tim Leonelli, who was a former member of the DCI Concord Blue Devils from 2007 - 2011.

Music and performances
The Band performs at every home football game. Additionally, the Band has played at parades in the Boston area and travels to away games each season, except for the 2009 season (see below). Regular season destinations included the University of Maryland, Clemson University. Postseason travel has taken the Band to Jacksonville, Florida for the ACC Championship Game, Orlando, Florida for the Champs Sports Bowl, Dublin, Ireland for the Emerald Isle Classic and the Yokohama Bowl in Yokohama, Japan.

In the 2010, 2011, and 2012 season, the Band traveled to Canada to perform a pre-game and halftime routine for the Montreal Alouettes.

Three hours before kickoff, the Boston College Marching Band parades through Lower Campus and leads the football team into Alumni Stadium. Afterward, The Band performs a short concert on the steps of Silvio O. Conte Forum.

Before the football game starts, the Marching Band performs "The Pre-Game Show." Pre-Game starts with a High-Brass Fanfare, performed by the Trumpets and Mellophones. The Band then prances out onto the field and performs a series of BC fight songs. First, the Band performs "Sons of Maroon and Gold", and "All Up For Boston,". The Band then salutes the opposing team by playing their fight song. The Band then proudly performs the nation's oldest fight song "For Boston." During "For Boston," the Band forms the letters "BC" on the field, and during the final phrases, "italicizes" the letters to match the school's logo.

In the stands, the Band also plays a variety of music. After every first down, the Band plays a short, 4-bar fanfare similar to "For Boston," the school's fight song. The Band also plays numerous cheers, such as "E-A-G-L-E-S," and "Booty Drop". Some songs the Band played during the 2012-13 season were:


 * Mars, Bringer of War by Gustav Holst
 * O Fortuna by Carl Orff
 * Viva la Vida by Coldplay
 * Edge of Glory by Lady GaGa
 * What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction
 * Gangnam Style by Psy
 * Where Have You Been by Rihanna
 * Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepson
 * Heaven by DJ Sammy
 * Don't Stop Believin' by Journey
 * Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
 * I'm Shipping Up to Boston by The Dropkick Murphys
 * The Final Countdown by Europe
 * Just a Friend by Biz Markie
 * Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne

The Band also performs versions of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup," both of which have become traditions at Boston College.

Additionally, the Band has performed the national anthem at Fenway Park, and on June 16, 2009 the Band opened for Aerosmith and the Dropkick Murphys at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The Band also performed "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" live onstage with the Dropkick Murphys at the Bank of America Pavillion in Boston on September 21, 2012.

The Band was also selected to perform at the Second inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington, DC on January 21, 2013.