Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones and Rihanna had Freddie Colston.
Colston was a 20 -year -old student from Tiny Fairbanks in La. He grew up at home without an indoor pipe, but now he has maintained a luxurious accommodation with about 180 people. Grambling College Member of the March Band.
Soon they will perform at the Half Time Show of the first Super Bowl, after a high level in the field of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Colston, a 77 -year -old who played Cymbals, said, “We were like the spirit that the crowd was in us and walking in the clouds. “Our stage was higher and the beat was faster.”
For decades before the National Football League recruited STARS to perform at the Super Bow Bow HalfTIME SHOW, the rapper Kendrick Lamar will play a headline in this year’s game in New Oleans on February 9. university. university.
Lamar did not say that the Kansas City Chief and the Philadelphia Eagles were recovering for almost 15 minutes. But in LA. When Southern University plays before Jon Batiste plays the country, there will be a Caesars SuperDome.
Each HBCu Marching Band has a unique style and appearance and often has a vivid uniform that matches the color of the school. Regardless of school, however, the crowds are often choreographed by choreographers and dancers, and trumpets and drummers waved while blowing or knocking on musical instruments.
“That A specific style of performance has always been extensive, and the march band and other music groups have always been a cultural ambassador of black universities, ”said Steven Lewis, a music and performing art curator of the Smithsonian National African History and Cultural Museum. Washington.
Grambling’s all -black students were invited to Los Angeles at the peak of the citizenship movement, and were still invited to the flame of watt riots and the body in the body two years ago. Some black leaders have begun to reject the university manager to invite.
Lewis said, “I felt empty. “But the criticism has been in progress for quite some time, and the league is still something to work.”
San Francisco 49ers 49ers Quarter Back Colin Cafe Nick hesitated to repeatedly kneel to protest racial injuries in the country in 2016 and perform in Super Ball after a fierce debate over patriotism and citizenship. In 2019, NFL started partnership with Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports company ROC Nation, and Weeknd, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and other prominent black artists have led the recent performances.
The marching band has the size and pride of the size of the HBCUS, and many of them were established immediately after the inter -Korean war and integrated the military march into the curriculum.
The band is a student conservative tool that is attracting attention in the Rose Parade and the president’s inauguration, including the performance of the Mississippi Valley State University last month. Some groups compete with each other in the same events as the band’s battle, giving them a lively sense of modern songs.
They also attracted the attention of football executives who wanted to inject entertainment at a new event. When the National Football League and the American Football League first met, the Super Bowl was not yet called Super Bowl.
JIM STEG, former vice president of special events in NFL, said, “I saw the band and was not a marching band.” -1970s. “They were just doing differently from others. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, the old president of Grambling, practiced through the university break after the band decided to play the band at the first Super Bow Halp Time Show. In the 1960s, Colston said 5 am practice was not rare.
Call Stern said, “They said,” We do not refuse the performance. ” “‘We will go anywhere.’
One day, Colston ordered each band member to pay $ 2 for the spending allowance of Los Angeles.
When musicians flowed into the football field during the half time, Gram Bling portrayed the US map by joining the marching band of the University of Arizona, the white school. The band played the “country” for the finale as the ball of the balloon went up.
“We had to act in a professional way because we were a colorful children’s group in a white society. “We represented the school, church, and we came to the city.”
The HBCU band is included in the next three Super Bowl half time. After the assassination of Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Florida A & M band’s director created a set of American Pride on Miami’s Super Bowl III the following year.
George Quillet, the clarinet player of Florida A & M, said many of his bandmates did not agree with the concept of the performance at first, but later changed their minds.
“We were really energetic because our leaders guided us the process of what we need to do.” Quillet is now 76.
The show included marching with a flight eagle formation. After marching in a letter similar to the “US”, the students were still standing as a speech to President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration and King’s “I have a Dream” speech.
This Super Bowl is the 11th in New Olians. Southern University won the Mardi Gras theme at half time in the first Super Bowl in the city in 1970 and paid for Duke Ellington in 1975. Three years later, the south played. 12 minutes free game routine.
Kenny Ricard, a 67 -year -old southern clarinet player, said he recited the chants ahead of all performances before taking the stadium in 1978.
For decades, the marching band was an eager and reliable entertainment option for NFL, which was related to logistics to create a show that can entertain the face -to -face and television audiences.
In 1993, Michael Jackson was standing on the stage with almost one -minute claps before singing a hitting medley with a fireworks competition. STEEG said NFL said that fans should strengthen their half -time shows to prevent fans from reflecting other networks.
When A-listers were on the central stage, the last two Super Bowls in the Orleans led the headline for U2 and Beyoncé. The HBCU band has started a more complementary role. In 2007, Florida A & M supported Prince’s performance and provided background music under a high platform.
At that time, he was in the band and the current director Shelby Chipman said that Prince’s agent called the band to play. His team sent music information, so the band could match the notes to sing, but he gave creative freedom for dance routines and formation.
Prince’s team visited Florida A & M a few weeks ago and rehearsed. The band practiced with Prince once within 24 hours before the game.
Chipman said, “In general, with this kind of performance, they provide us green light.
Colston, who has worked in the customer service for the NFL commander of the NFL, still attends the Homecomings of Grambling State and revives the memories of the first Super Bowl. He hopes that celebrities who dominate the stage know their history.
“We opened the door for them,” he said.
