The U marching band paid tribute to the newly sworn-in president Tuesday as it marched along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House playing “God Bless America.” When they passed the White House, President Barack Obama was in clear sight and only 50 feet away.
“We all got to see him,” said Eric Beckstrand, a sophomore in business. “It was an honor to play for President Obama on such a historic day.”
Although it was almost the last band to march in the parade, when the band passed Obama, band members said the moment was monumental.
“Our lines were perfect, our notes were perfect,” said Chandra Young, a junior music major. “It didn’t come together until that moment.”
The marching band left Salt Lake City late Saturday night and arrived in Washington, D.C., at 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Sunday at the Dulles International Airport outside of Washington. The band spent Sunday traveling to monuments and visiting the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Audrey Fairbanks, an undeclared junior who grew up in D.C., said traveling back to the city was like coming home.
“It was such a historical event and it felt good to be a part of it,” Fairbanks said.
On Monday the band had a morning rehearsal before visiting Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. That night, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch addressed the band.
Inauguration Day started early for many of the band members. They woke up around 5 a.m. to get ready for the inauguration parade. The buses left at 6:45 a.m. to travel to D.C. from the homes where they were staying in Ashburn, Va.
While driving to D.C., the band listened to Obama’s inauguration speech on the radio. Young said that Obama’s speech was amazing and that everyone in the bus was cheering and clapping.
The band members were taken into the Pentagon around 12:30 p.m., where they had lunch and waited until it was their turn to march in the inaugural parade.
The performers said intense security could be seen throughout the parade.
“Security was lined up shoulder-to-shoulder throughout the entire route of the parade,” said Danny Jones, a senior in accounting.
During the parade, the band took short breaks at warming stations that had been set up along the 1.7-mile route. The band members also had hand warmers to keep their fingers from freezing in the cold weather. The temperature in Washington, D.C., was in the mid-20s, but the wind chill made it felt more like 13 degrees.
The excitement and feeling in D.C. warmed everyone’s spirits.
“It was so cool, everyone was chanting,” Young said. “It was thrilling.”
The parade started an hour late, around 3:30 p.m. and the U marching band didn’t finish until around 7:30 p.m.
There were approximately 90 musical groups in the parade. At least one group represented each state and territory.
The band stayed with families that lived about 30 miles west of D.C. It traveled using chartered buses that picked them up at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake center, a central point between all the host families. The families took the band members to the stake center at the beginning of each day and picked them up there later at night.
Lennie MahlerThe U marching band marched down State St. last week to honor the 13-0 football team. Yesterday the band marched in the inaugural parade and played for President Barack Obama.