Preparation. Performance. Shape. Formation. Color. Movement. Tradition. Excellence. Spirit. Pride. Time. Step. Rhythm. Music.

Oh, the Tiger Band. You know ‘em, you love ‘em, you can take them hot to go (or so I’m told). Week in and week out, they fine-tune their performances, putting in hours of practice and, I imagine, washing a lot of layers of clothing.

It’s hardly worth mentioning that athletics loves Tiger Band as much as we do, but it should be spoken into existence: Tiger Band exists independent of Clemson football. It always has, and it always will. The band gives 110% regardless of how the team is playing.

Declan Maloney, a sophomore business analytics major, plays for the trombone section in the Tiger Band. During an interview with The Tiger Declan commented on if he ever felt bothered that the band’s half-time show is competing with concession stands and bathrooms for patronage.

“At these past [half-times], it’s been more people than I expected. At the same time, if nobody’s there, or five people are there, or 1,000 people, or 10,000, I’m still gonna do it regardless,” Declan responded.

However, don’t get me wrong: Declan still loves contributing to the athletic atmosphere.

“College athletics has a huge pageantry to it, and we’re a huge part of it. So, I think it’s important that we keep maintaining our traditions through Tiger Band. It’s the same thing as running on the hill. It’s just something unique. Part of the atmosphere,” Declan expressed.

JC Atieh, a senior drum major and chemical engineering major, comments that the work ethic of the band is “very high.”

“People just think it’s walking with instruments, but it’s definitely a lot more than that. You’re playing an instrument. You’re moving, having to think ahead where you gotta go. Keeping time, all that,” JC Atieh said.

He does find, however, that this commitment level makes it difficult for the band to retain student musicians.

“It’s just not for some people. Some people realize, ‘Oh, it’s a lot of time.’ Of course, we all have that thought, but the people who usually come back are the ones who have that same sort of feeling that I do. I wanna go back to that close-knit community. I wanna see everyone again and do the thing I love. I think that’s special,” Atieh told The Tiger.

It is the commitment of the band that in these hills creates a song that’s never ceasing. It is the direct result of the tireless hours spent by these ambitious young people spreading their passion like wildfire through this storied land. They champion school spirit when the crowds have grown weary and wander home. The funny thing about Clemson is that it has no shortage of spirit, and yet, when the stakes are high, and it seems that the flame of the average Clemson Tiger could not be outshone, they rise to the challenge, and these noisemakers top us sevenfold.

The baseline is 110%; it’s their resting heart rate. In the dead of night, cutting through the silence of Death Valley and bringing it to life again, they play for phantom crowds until the Tigers fill in to drown them out. Wrong notes are wrung out like locker room towels. They wear their uniforms with pride because there is no other option.

When I entered Death Valley for my very first Clemson football game, the first thing to welcome me home was not the lights; it was not the cheerleaders or the players, it was the incessant and insistent drumming up of spirit. The drum line demands that the crowd stand up, and we respond without having to look at the scoreboard.

Brynna Nedderman is a freshman English major from Liberty Hill, South Carolina. Brynna can be reached at [email protected].