UCLA’s Bruin Marching Band performs at school

UCLA’s Bruin Marching Band, also known as The Solid Gold Sound, performed on the school’s football field on Oct. 17 during tutorial and lunch.

The band was invited to use the field to rehearse before their performance the next day at the UCLA-Cal Berkeley game. Because the game started at 12:30 p.m. the following day,

Bruin Marching Band Director Gordon Henderson decided that the band would have a long rehearsal the previous day at instead of practicing the same morning.

The Bruins were supposed to play and rehearse at San Mateo High School, but the school received a noise complaint at their football game the previous Friday. The band instead chose to come to Saratoga High.

“It was [always] a standing invitation for us to come,” Henderson said. “We haven’t been back here since 2009, so we thought it was a good time to come by.”

San Mateo’s loss was Saratoga’s fortune, as students, teachers and even parents shouted, clapped and cheered the Bruins’ performance.

Practicing their pregame and halftime shows, the 250 band members executed crisp, synchronized movements to the songs “Hide and Seek,” “Aha!,” “Moondance” and “Mr. Roboto.”

Among the Bruins was 2014 graduate Anup Kar, who played sousaphone.

“It was definitely reminiscent,” Kar said “When I was marching on this field I remembered being drum major. “It reminded me how much I love band.”

Hearing the news that their band would be playing at his alma mater, Kar was ecstatic to be back at his old home field yet still had obligations to fulfill.

“My first reaction was ‘Damn, now I have to call my mom,’” Kar said. “My second reaction was kind of the same thing, except three days later because I procrastinated to call my mom.”

Kar advised current high school students to strongly consider joining marching band in college.

“If your college has a band that is a decent size and seems fun, give it a shot,” Kar said. “You’d be surprised on how much fun college band could have off the field and on the field.”