Bull Pen Pep Band
Encyclopedia
The Bull Pen Pep Band is a 45-member musical group that performs at all home games for the Houston Texans
franchise of the National Football League
. The band plays at home games and various other marketing, promotional and community outreach events sponsored by the Texans throughout the year. The band is located in the Bull Pen
section of Reliant Stadium
.
The instrumentation in the Pep Band consists of a Brass Line, Drum Line and Combo Group. Among the instruments used in the band include:
Members must possess a strong musical background, creativity, passion for football, minimum of 4 years of marching/jazz/professional band experience and must be able to fulfill a part-time commitment to perform at all Texans home games and various events in the community and to attend regular band rehearsals. Pep Band Auditions are held each year in late February.
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
franchise of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. The band plays at home games and various other marketing, promotional and community outreach events sponsored by the Texans throughout the year. The band is located in the Bull Pen
Bull pen
The bull pen or bull system was a feature of Australian waterfront workers' life experience under the Dog collar act where men were hired for the day on that day by lower management in a competitive face to face environment. This was strongly felt to be demeaning by workers...
section of Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
.
Group background
The Pep Band first performed in April 2002 at the Texans Draft Day Event.The instrumentation in the Pep Band consists of a Brass Line, Drum Line and Combo Group. Among the instruments used in the band include:
- Bass DrumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
- cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s - MellophoneMellophoneThe mellophone is a brass instrument that is typically used in place of the horn in marching bands or drum and bugle corps....
- Snare DrumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
- Tenor DrumTenor drumA tenor drum is a cylindrical drum that is higher pitched than a bass drum.In a symphony orchestra's percussion section, a tenor drum is a low-pitched drum, similar in size to a field snare, but without snares and played with soft mallets or hard sticks. Under various names, the drum has been used...
- TromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- TubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
Members must possess a strong musical background, creativity, passion for football, minimum of 4 years of marching/jazz/professional band experience and must be able to fulfill a part-time commitment to perform at all Texans home games and various events in the community and to attend regular band rehearsals. Pep Band Auditions are held each year in late February.
Traditions
The Bull Pen Pep Band has many traditions and scheduled performances during gameday. They include:- Marching in the parking lots with the tailgaters 3-4 hours prior to kickoff.
- Assembling in Budweiser Plaza for a 15 minute performance 1 hour prior to kickoff.
- Marching with the Bull PenBull penThe bull pen or bull system was a feature of Australian waterfront workers' life experience under the Dog collar act where men were hired for the day on that day by lower management in a competitive face to face environment. This was strongly felt to be demeaning by workers...
into the stadium and Taking their seats in the Bull Pen 45 minutes before kickoff. - Playing between the first and second and third and fourth quarter breaks along with various time outs.
- Performing the "5th Quarter" at the end of the game, which consists of the band marching through the Main Concourse playing songs with a large group of fans that march and dance along with them.
- Occasionally performing during the pregame or halftime entertainment of the game.