Each year, the band prepares a new themed performance, as well as keeps up old traditions such as the National Anthem and PennWest Cal’s Alma Mater.

For their 2025 halftime show, the band proudly performs a ten-minute journey of magic: “MagiCal!”

The “MagiCal” show consists of Bruno Mars’ ‘24K Magic’; Peter, Paul and Mary’s ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’; ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’ from The Police; and other songs from movies and television, such as ‘Witches Road’, ‘Weasley Stomp’, and ‘Fantasia.’

Pat Smith, a communications major, is a baritone player and the low brass captain for the band as well as the University Bands treasurer.

“During ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ we do a company front with high-stepping, and then we rush the stands and play to (the audience) directly,” Smith said, noting that the band does not normally use the high-stepping technique.

“As low brass captain, my job is communicating from my section to higher in the chain of command and vice versa,” Smith said. “Within my section, there are baritones, trombones, and contras.”

The show features five talented brass soloists, each bringing mesmerizing sound to the field.

“My section leaders Jacob Levin and Gavin Smith…both have solos and do phenomenally musically with those,” Smith said. “I feel like everyone in the band and low brass have strengths and weaknesses and play off of each other as well.”

Sydney Gerhard, a senior Digital Media Technology major, is a second-year drumline captain and plays one of the bass drums.

“My favorite part of the show is the solo trombone part that gradually adds in a contra, trumpet, and mellophone to make a quartet type opening to the song before the rest of the band joins in,” Gerhard said. “Even though I don’t play there, it is my favorite part of the show because it sounds so cool! I enjoy being captain and having that responsibility…I, my co-captain, and another drumline member wrote our new cadence for the year over the summer. Since I am a captain and also on the music team I moved in before the rest of the band to help set up the music for the band and go through leadership training,” Gerhard said, noting this was around August 8.

“So far, we have the first few movements of the show down very well! Specifically in the bass drum part there is a bass groove that spans over about 12 measures. We spent a good chunk of time on that, and it sounds very good now,” Gerhard said.

On the brass side, Smith said the show is also coming along.

“We sound great most of the time both in rehearsal and out on the field, and our marching is consistently good looking,” Smith said. They noted that there are some aspects of the performances that need some more practice.

“Throughout the season, we are constantly adding (stand tunes), so I feel like spending extra time on them could never hurt,” Smith said. “The presentation, all of us putting our instruments up to play simultaneously, marching with great technique, and body language as a whole,” are other aspects that the band is currently working on.

Following tradition, at the end of a halftime show, the band and color guard crowd around the track near the 50-yard line and play the school’s fight song, complete with dancing and cheering.

“In our band, we have to keep the energy up the whole time, especially when we rush the stands at the very end of the performance,” Gerhard said, commending the stamina required of her bandmates.

After marching in the Homecoming parade through campus and downtown California, the band will make its way to Adamson Stadium for a special pregame performance.

“In our Homecoming performance, we always have our alumni march pregame with us. It is always a fun time to get to meet the alumni and see where they are in their lives now,” Gerhard said.

Smith agreed.

“I love when the alumni come back because I love to hear their stories and experiences,” they said. “In order to have a promising future I feel like knowledge of the past is essential.”

During all football games, including homecoming, the band has a section in the bleachers to cheer on the team and hype up the crowd. During breaks in play or after a score, they play classic bandstand tunes, as well as newer songs such as Green Day’s “Holiday”.

“One of the new stand tunes that we added this year is ‘The Chicken Dance,’ which is pretty fun; ‘Crazy Train’ is also really fun because the drumline yells the “aye aye aye” part in the beginning pretty loudly,” Gerhard said.

Along with the homecoming festivities, the marching band will be at every home football game as well as traveling to the away Slippery Rock and IUP football games. They will also play at the Cal hockey Homecoming game.

The band recently traveled to Allentown, PA, for a band festival. The annual trip is the highlight of many band members’ seasons.

“With Allentown, we are a legacy band, so we are guaranteed a spot. We perform, it’s arguably the biggest performance of our year, as there are thousands of people live in that stadium watching us. I love it,” Smith said.

Gerhard and the drumline also had the opportunity to open for country artist Gabby Barrett at her concert in Farmington, PA, on September 6.

“This was a tremendous opportunity for our students to showcase their talent on a big stage,” Band Director Dr. Frank Stetar said in a press release from PennWest University. “They put in a lot of hard work, and to perform in front of a hometown crowd alongside an artist like Gabby Barrett is something they’ll never forget.”

Both Gerhard and Smith encourage people to come watch the marching band at any performance, and Smith expressed that they truly enjoy being in the band.

“I enjoy the family we have and making music with like-minded individuals, and being able to work and make an amazing show year after year,” Smith said.