Four buses. Two hundred band members. A piece of history. The World Famed Tiger Marching Band is set to perform in the Inaugural Parade held to honor the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama.”This is really astounding,” said DuJuan Lockett, one of the three drum majors for the band. “It feels good to be a part of history.”
The World Famed is the only band to be picked from La. and one of the six HBCU bands picked around the nation. The other five are Florida A&M Univeristy’s Marching 100, Hampton University’s The Force, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South, Howard University’s Showetime Marching Band, and Delaware State University’s Approaching Storm.
There is great significance with the World Famed being selected to perform, as over 1,300 groups applied.
“Many may come after us, but none before us,” said Dr. Larry J. Pannell, band director. “We were a part of a the dream with Martin Luther King (Jr.), and now we are a part of the reality.”
The World Famed did much to prepare for this event.
“We practiced the selection a lot,” said Lockett. “We marched around the campus everyday to build stamina and endurance.”
However, this kind of preparation is nothing out of the ordinary for the World Famed.
“We try to always prepare at the highest level of performance,” said Malcolm Spencer, assistant professor of music and assistant band director.
“Just because it’s the Inauguration doesn’t mean we prepared more,” he said. “We like to prepare for the fullest in whatever we do. We don’t just want to have the title of ‘World Famed;’ we want to earn the title.”
The 56th Inaugural Parade is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. (EST). There is no indication on what order the World Famed or other attendees are in.