Last year the Ohio State University Marching Band gained some serious traction on the internet after a video of them paying tribute to Rush viral.
Now another band from the same university are at it. The Ohio State University Athletic Band – which, unlike the Marching Band, doesn't require its members to audition – took to the field at halftime during the annual Spring Game between the Ohio State Scarlet team (offense) and the Ohio State Gray team (defense), to perform a tribute to Van Halen.
After an introduction read by the game's announcer, the band played a seven-minute segment featuring Runnin' With the Devil, Dreams, Panama and Jump. The choreographed performance also saw the band moving in unison to spell out the name "Van Halen", the words "Dreams", "Jump" and "1984", the iconic Van Halen logo, a stick figure playing guitar, and what appears to be David Lee Roth's 1951 Mercury Eight, originally seen in the video for Panama.
The modern Athletic Band was started in 1996 under the direction of Dr. Jon R. Woods, and performs the full pregame and halftime routines at the annual Spring Game.
In the football – played in front of a crowd of 60,007 fans – the Scarlet team prevailed with a 34-26 win, with running back Pryor rushing for 62 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. He also caught four passes for 44 yards.
Prior to kickoff, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskin, who played college ball at Ohio State, was honoured. Haskin was killed last weekend after being struck by a truck near Fort Lauderdale, FL.
