October 24, 2017

Athletic Band returns for winter sports season

After a hiatus for nearly eight years, the UW-Superior Athletic Band has been revived, reimagined and ready to rock as Full Metal Jackets.

After a hiatus for nearly eight years, the UW-Superior Athletic Band has been revived, reimagined and ready to rock.

Now called the Full Metal Jackets, its rock-based sound will be intent on energizing the crowd at basketball and hockey games.

“It’s basically a rock band with horns,” said Dr. Greg Kehl Moore, Professor of Music, Jazz Program Director and Director of the Full Metal Jackets. “There’s going to be some heavy metal involved.”

With a playlist that will include Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and Black Sabbath – just to name a few – the Full Metal Jackets will be a departure from traditional pep bands.

“I grew up playing in rock bands,” said Moore. “I wanted to be a professional rock musician until I was about 30 years old. It’s ironic that I’m able to use my rock and roll background in a collegiate setting.”

Full Metal Jackets will feature a core band of six members on guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, trombone and tenor sax.

“The six core musician I recruited myself,” said Moore. “I recruited by ability and found players with ties to UW-Superior.”

While the core members will guarantee performances at every game, the band is not limited to just six members.

“It’s open to anybody – faculty, students who play a band instrument – who just want to play,” said Moore. “They don’t have to tell us they are coming, just show up and play.”

Currently, Full Metal Jackets are scheduled to play Yellowjacket sporting events – split evenly between men’s and women’s basketball and hockey. Yet the option to add more games is a possibility.

“This is finally the magic formula,” said Moore. “I give a lot of credit to Dr. Brett Jones – he is the driving force. It’s his brainchild and he figured out the concept and started the conversation with [Interim Director of Athletics] Nick Bursik and they figured it all out. Hopefully, we can make this a sustainable thing.”

"We are extremely excited to revive our pep band and have the Full Metal Jackets rocking at our home games," said Bursik. "This effort was truly collaborative between Athletics and the Music Department and all focused to help enhance the game experience for our student-athletes, students and fans. This aligns with our other efforts this year, in reducing our season ticket prices to be more affordable and dedicating our cause games to benefit local youth sporting organizations. The Full Metal Jackets will be a huge hit for our students and community.”

Upcoming UW-Superior Athletics game appearances for Full Metal Jackets includes: