AU MARCHING BAND IS
BIGGER THAN EVER

The Auburn University Marching Band is bigger and more colorful than ever this season thanks to exposure gained last season and a commitment by AU Interim President Ed Richardson to fund more scholarships.

“We’ve got our biggest band ever,” said Rick Good, AU’s associate director of bands. “We’re up over 60 (from 285 members to 345) members from last year. We’ve also added a dance line, which, when combined with our majorettes and our flag corps, make up a visual ensemble that we’re calling Tiger Eyes.”

Good attributed the growth of the band to exposure it gained last year and to AU Interim President Ed Richardson’s commitment of funds for band scholarships.

“We got a lot of exposure last year with our 13-0 season, having won the Sudler Trophy (awarded annually to the nation’s top marching band) and being invited to and participating in President Bush’s inaugural parade,” Good said. “But a real key was the money that Dr. Richardson helped make available to us for scholarships. Those funds allowed us to recruit members and to be competitive with other schools.”

Good had said the band’s pregame show would feature minor changes, but the biggest change would be the addition of the dance line and more emphasis on the visuals through it, the majorettes and the flag corps – collectively called Tiger Eyes.

“The band provides the sound and the majorettes, flags and dancers provide the visuals, the color, the dazzle,” Good said. “We thought, as a group, Tiger Eyes was the perfect name for them. And they all seem to like having that common identity.”

Tiger Eyes consists of the 23-member flag corps, 16 dancers and 11 majorettes.

The new dance line, Good said, would be more of a Rockettes-style “kick line” to add a bigger visual effect to the band and to provide a new genre to existing dance groups on campus.

“You’ll see more of an influence of classic technique in their routines,” Good had said.

Good’s wife, Jennifer, who is also an in-service director in AU’s College of Education, has coordinated the new Tiger Eyes ensemble.