The hours leading up to Texas Tech’s first football game of the year, are what the members of the “Goin’ Band from Raider Land” have been waiting for all summer.
Band leaders meet about two weeks before the fall semester begins to organize this year’s shows.
“We move fast pace a lot of the time. So we go show to show to show and we rarely repeat the same show,” Band President Courtney Estrada said.
About 400 new and returning members meet seven days before classes start to practice each routine.
“We teach the new members all of the marching that we do,” Head Drum Major Alex Williams said. “We teach the returning members the marching that we do just to make sure they still have it under their belt. And then after that we have auditions.”
Williams said during that week they practice from 7:00 a.m. to about 9:00 p.m. every day.
“We have work outs at the beginning as well it’s really fast paced,” Williams said. “Then after that we have our pregame prepared, our half time show prepared. And then we just practice until the first game as well.”
“We have great members this year so people are looking at the music ahead, getting to learn it really early,” Estrada said.
Estrada added that 45 minutes of exercise starts their practice as a warm-up.
“We run a ton, we get our cardio up, because 90 percent of our show is cardio and being able to breathe throughout that,” Estrada said.
“The techniques we do during pregame are some of the most physically demanding things that I’ve ever done and I’m someone who works out every day,” Williams said. “So for a lot of people who aren’t expecting it, it can come as quite a shock. So these work outs really help a lot.”
Williams said the band will meet about three hours before the game starts Saturday. Their first performance with be the Pregame before kickoff.
