ATLANTA — The inaugural ESPN “Band of The Year” competition could be described many ways, but the best term may have been “organized chaos.” That’s to be expected for a first-of-its-kind event that was band competition-meets-football-game-meets corporate-check cashing showcase.
Four HBCU bands filed into the cavernous Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta looking to bring home one of two national titles. But none of them did.
The inaugural “Band of the Year” winners for both Division I and Division II were not crowned on Friday night. Instead the result will be announced during Saturday’s broadcast of its ESPN Events parent event — the Celebration Bowl. That announcement was made after two hours of performances on the field and an endless array of check presentations to the four bands who made it to the turf over dozens of others.
A rumbling of murmurs rolled through the crowd once the announcement that the postponement of the announcement of the winners rolled through the loudspeakers.
North Carolina A&T’s Blue and Gold Marching Machine, vying for the Division I title against Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South, issued what appeared to be a response to the ruling. The band had already had its “Fifth Quarter” stands performance after the official competition, and was told to load onto its busses. Instead, the BGMM broke out into another song, provoking the Sonic Boom to prepare an impromptu response of its own.
Officials quickly shut that down, reiterating that the bands needed to get to their busses as instructed and that the next band would be docked 30 points on their performance.
“Don’t even think about it,” barked Don Roberts, one of the organizers of the ESPN Band of the Year and a long-time fixture in the Atlanta band world.
Both A&T and Jackson State, as well as the Virginia State “Trojan Explosion” and “The Roar” from Florida Memorial — will have to wait with the rest of the world to see who will bring home the hardware as the judges tabulate the scores.
Fans and bands were politely but firmly ushered out of the dome as preparations had to get underway for the Celebration Bowl, which was set to kick off in just over 15 hours.
As the stadium workers prepared to work into the night to make the magic happen, spectators filed out of the stadium and onto the concourse of the dome with anxious energy and a tinge of bewilderment at the course of events.
A group of North Carolina A&T supporters expressed a mix of excitement and confusion after witnessing the event — particularly with no announcement of winners.
“I mean, some of us are coming to Celebration Bowl but other people aren’t,” one Aggie supporter in a letter jacket shared.
“Facts,” a gentleman with a BGMM (Blue and Gold Marching Machine) shirt interjected. “It’s anticlimactic.”
“And none of the bands are performing at the Celebration Bowl so…
“They bout to go home tomorrow,” a friend added.
“Yeah, so they’re going to find out through social media,” she concluded.
“For an inaugural event — It was quite special,” Barry Harrison said. “Still trying to work out the mechanics of the judging. But the four bands were all excellent in their own way. They all known for their own particular stylings and musicianship. But it was it was quite an event, quite an event. And I’m glad I made the trip from New Orleans to be here to see it.”
Harrison proudly wore a vintage Southern University letterman’s jacket. He revealed he was a percussionist for the marching band under the tutelage of legendary band director Dr. Issac Greggs. Even though his beloved Human Jukebox didn’t make the cut this round, he still felt the need to come support the ESPN Band of The Year.
“Well, when you when you reach a certain age and a certain level, you just want to see all of us succeed. So like I said, I came all the way from New Orleans,” Harrison continued. “I have come here before for the Honda. I’ve come for the Heritage Bowl. I’ve come for the Pioneer Bowl between the CIAA and SIAC. And I’m just that HBCU guy who just would like to see all of us succeed.”
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