This blog was written by Sarah Bell and Evan Bainer, Marching with the Virginians blog staff.
The MVs had such an incredible start to the New Year by getting to perform at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl! Although there are some MVs that aren’t really fond of mayonnaise, we all had a wonderful time getting to support the Hokies, meeting members of the Pride of Minnesota marching band, and spending time together on our trip.
Our adventure began on January 2nd, as we hopped on the buses and travelled down to North Carolina. After arriving in Charlotte, select members of the band and headed over to the common area outside of Truist for a “Battle of the Bands” with the University of Minnesota’s marching band! Each band played special tunes, along with each fight song for the schools. No need to worry, it was a very friendly competition, and both Minnesota and Tech fans had such a blast kicking off the cold, mayo-filled weekend.
(Photo: Bob White)
The next morning, the MVs were up bright and early to catch the buses on the way to rehearsal at the UNC Charlotte stadium! We want to give a HUGE shout out to Dr. Hunter Kopcynski, director of UNC Charlotte’s Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band, for allowing us the opportunity to rehearse on their field! Dr. Polly introduced us to him during our rehearsal, and told us that he was a proud MV alum. We practiced our music, ran through our drill, and worked out the logistics until we felt confident for that afternoon’s performance in front of Hokie and Minnesota fans!
After rehearsal, the MVs grabbed an early dinner of everyone’s favorite Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, and then we were off to start getting dressed! We then hopped on the buses and made our way to the Bank of America stadium in downtown Charlotte. Before the game, we had enough time to get a drink of water, get up to walk around, and do anything that we needed to do prior to kickoff. Some of us got to meet members of Minnesota’s band, and we all shared our traditions, favorite stand tunes, and how much we all love being a part of the marching band.
(Photo: Bob White)
During our pregame performance, we were able to play various Hokie favorites such as Tech Triumph, VPI Victory March, and our arrangement of the classic tune Shenandoah.
The scoring started in the first quarter when Virginia Tech quarterback Collin Schlee ran in for a three-yard touchdown to put the Hokies up 7-0. The Golden Gophers would then score three touchdowns in the second quarter, and Virginia Tech kicker John Love would kick a 60-yard field goal right before the half, making the score 21-10 in favor of Minnesota.
We had the privilege of getting to play during halftime as well, and during our performance we showcased our Aranjuez show, along with our Metallica show. These were both crowd favorites along with MV alumni favorites, so we considered our performance to be fitting for the bowl game.
After the halftime performance, the band headed back to its seats to support the Hokies for the second half of the game, even though the only scoring for the half was a fourth-quarter field goal from Minnesota, making the final score 24-10.
Although the Hokies lost to the University of Minnesota, the MVs had such a wonderful time getting to stay in Charlotte, spend time together, and perform in such a beautiful stadium. Our regular season is now over, but the MV Blog isn’t going anywhere! Stay tuned for more posts about the MVs and what we’re up to in a couple weeks.
Go Hokies!