Cowbell Cheer on a Merry-Go-Round

Aug 27, 2014 · Published in 2014 Season

What happens when half the drumline gets on a merry-go-round and plays the Cowbell Cheer? The other half plays along from outside, of course. The video was taken on Wednesday, August 27, 2014, on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA.

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The UMass Minutemen will host the Boston College Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, August 30, 2014. In preparation for the big game—the battle for the baystate—UMass is hosting a pep rally in downtown Boston to generate support for the underdog Minutemen. And no football pep rally would be complete without the marching band, so the UMMB traveled to Boston to help support the maroon and white.

In this video, some UMMB members, including the UMass Drumline tenor and bass drummers, hopped onto a merry-go-round carousel and started playing. They’re hard to see, but every time the carousel comes around, some bass drums and the occasional tenor stick are visible behind the rest of the UMMB members. Listen carefully and you hear the slight sound delay caused by the distance between the snares (on the ground) and the tenors/basses (on the carousel).

The Cowbell Cheer is a UMMB standard. We play it for fun and to generate some excitement among our members and audience. Thanks to Sally Johnson, UMass Drumline cymbal tech, for this video.

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