The Huskies Pep Band is a scramble band

Scramble band

A scramble band - also known as a scatter band - is a particular type of field-performing marching band with distinct characteristics that set it apart from other common forms of marching bands; most notably, scramble bands do not normally march...

 from Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...

 in Houghton, Michigan

Houghton, Michigan

Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County...

. They bill themselves as "The Cream of the Keweenaw, The Pride of Pastyland, The Second Best Feeling in the World." They are known for their often irreverent cheers and taunts as well as their unique uniforms consisting of black-and-gold striped bib overalls (known simply as "Stripes") and creative hats unique to each band member. The Huskies Pep Band performs at all home football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, and ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 games, as well as parades and other local events.

The band is often recognized as one of the best bands in NCAA Division 1 hockey because of their sheer power and energy, and their firm roots in tradition. Ironically, Michigan Technological University does not offer a degree in music. They have been featured in Inside College Hockey and are periodically mentioned when sportscasters discuss the tradition of the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

History

The band was formed in the fall of 1928 as the Michigan Tech ROTC Band, under the baton of E. E. Melville. Their purpose was twofold: as an official part of the Michigan College of Mining and Technology's ROTC organization, they provided music for all military functions. They also functioned as a circus style band, playing at various athletic and community events. In later years, they would drop the ROTC affiliation, and simply became the Michigan Tech Band, then the Michigan Tech Pep Band. In 1957, under the direction of B. Franz Schubert, the pep band officially became a university course. The Huskies Pep Band is currently under the direction of Nicholas Enz, who has overseen a massive growth of the band, which now maintains a membership of close to 300.

The Pep Band is currently banned from the Northern Michigan University

Northern Michigan University

Northern Michigan University is a four-year college public university established in 1899 located in Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With a population of nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, Northern Michigan University is the Upper Peninsula's largest...

 football dome and has been since the mid 80's. The band was formally requested by NMU's athletic director (in writing) never to appear in their stadium as an opposing band ever again, because they took away the home field advantage. In 2008, the band attempted to circumvent this by crashing the yearly NMU-MTU football game without instruments; without instruments, they are not an opposing band, they are just excited fans. The band was refused seats and were forced to set up camp in the end zone, where they received more television airtime than the NMU band.

Characteristics

The band's certain trademarks consist of excessive taunting of the opposing team (especially the goalie at hockey games or the free-throw shooter at basketball games). Some of the band's cheers and taunts have been blacklisted or banned due to their level of offensiveness.

They are known for performing traditional songs such as "In Heaven There Is No Beer

In Heaven There is No Beer

In Heaven There Is No Beer is a song about the existential pleasures of beer drinking. The title of the song is the reason to drink beer while you are still alive.The song in German is "Im Himmel gibt's kein Bier", in Spanish, "En El Cielo No Hay Cerveza"....

" and "The Engineers" along with a variety of selections in popular music. Some cheers and songs have been around since the 1930s and '40s, such as the "Blue Skirt Waltz" in which the pep band (along with the audience) would link arms and sway back and forth. This tradition began during Winter Carnival in 1948 after Frankie Yankovic had recently performed there and has been since dubbed "The Copper Country Anthem".

The band is also known for their creative visual performances at halftime shows (e.g. the formation of a sperm fertilizing an egg). During Homecoming weekend, the entire band is known to dress up as hobos as a tradition when Michigan's Tech Homecoming Parade was once known as the Hobo Parade.

Some of the antics of the band are considered Monty Python

Monty Python

Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...

-esque, often performing songs from the sketches themselves and shouting the phrase "Run away!"

Rabbit of Caerbannog

The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog is a fictional beast in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It is the antagonist in a major setpiece battle, and makes a similar appearance in Spamalot, a musical inspired by the movie...

 when they exit from the performance. The band also incorporates other non-traditional ensemble instruments, including electric bass guitar, bagpipes, kazoos, cowbells, accordions, and at one time a large inflatable lobster.

Uniforms

The history of the stripes themselves is almost as scrambled as the band itself. From the beginning of the band, they have been known for their unique and entertaining uniforms. One of the original ideas was for a dark wind breaker and a railroad engineer’s cap. Thankfully, from a historical standpoint, then director Don Keranen decided to go with multi-colored striped bib overalls. Ten years later, when director Mike Griffith attempted to reorder, the band encountered a problem. The overalls were only offered in gold/black and red/white. To remedy the situation, the trombone section was put into red and white, gold and black were given to the new members, and the returnees reused the multi-colored pairs as long as they could make them last.

The official switch to gold and black stripes came in 1996 when director Jeff Bell-Hanson placed an order through a company called Lil’ Fan. The company actually made overalls for toddlers, which were the perfect material for the larger copies. The final order total came to about $12,000. The Michigan Tech Presidents club footed most of the bill, which was repaid through the sale of the older stripes.

WCHA Final Five

In 2006, 2007, 2008, and again in 2009, the Huskies Pep Band was chosen to be the Official Band of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association

Western Collegiate Hockey Association

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference....

 Final Five tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even after Michigan Tech defeated Colorado College

Colorado College

The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...

 in the first round of the WCHA playoffs in 2007, the Huskies Pep Band was still the Official Host Band. While attending the 2006 tournament the band also made a surprise appearance in the 40th Annual Saint Paul Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...

Parade in Downtown Saint Paul, and was invited to participate again in 2007.