The Princeton Band celebrated its 75th Birthday in October 1994, inviting all PUB alumni and Friends of the Tiger Band to rejoin us for Princeton-Hahvahd weekend, and perform in The Mother of All Halftime Shows. The weekend was more fun than barrel of monkies, and probably smelled better, too.

Over one hundred alumni and their families dusted off horns, woodwinds, drumsticks, and kazoos to once again march with the orange and the black. Friday afternoon found us rehearsing on "New" Band Field, under perfect weather arranged by God '00.

Alumni who hadn't played a note in forty years found themselves sight-reading Going Back and other Princeton favorites (and wondering how they once played them on autopilot).

After conquering the music, we blocked out the formations. ("Hey, tubas, I don't think Blair Hall has an umlaut!"...."Is that '75' supposed to look like a blob?") Marching 8-to-5 proved challenging even with generations of DMs shouting "Hit!", but scrambling was a cinch, and gave everyone a good appetite for our BBQ dinner.

Once the sun went down, the partying really started, at least among the young (and young at heart). Beer Pong and Liar's Dice continued well into the wee hours of the morning, while undergraduates and alumni swapped Gross Jokes and Gross Carminae.

Saturday morning found us back on Band Field, bright and early. (Perhaps a litle too bright or a little too early for those "young at heart.") As the show came together, undergrads had a chance to meet the alumni about whom they'd only heard stories. ("You were arrested for marching down Nassau Street?")

The show mastered, we formed up for the big march through campus. As we woke any late-risers along Elm Drive, PUB'ers from the sixties and earlier finally marched in a co-ed Princeton Band. After blasting Blair Courtyard with a quick concert, we paid the U-Store a brief visit ("Questing for Bargains") and stopped for a group photo.

With kickoff rapidly approaching, we P-Raded to Palmer Stadium and entertained the tailgaters. After a send-off from four Mickey Mouses (Mickey Mice?), we warmed up with some Band calisthentics, and kicked off the game with a classic pregame show. Despite Athletics' decision that alumni couldn't march pregame, PUB alums demonstrated their true colors when they scrambled on anyway during the Double-Double Rotating P, much to the surprise and enjoyment of the undergraduates and the audience. (The marchers on the field later dubbed the crowded formation the "Double-Double Pulsating P".)

Throughout the game, crusty alumni proved that they weren't quite so crusty after all, as they taught undergrads politically incorrect cheers from years gone by. They even managed to convince New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman to don the plaid along with President Shapiro.

Of course, the highlight of the weekend was our halftime show: The Princeton University Band Takes a Long Hard Look at Princeton, Ourselves, and Harvard, or "The Good, the Plaid, and the Ugly".

We marched close to 100 PUB alumni dating back to the Class of 1928. University President Harold Shapiro joined us (playing a washboard) as we traced the history of the Band. ("Let there be plaid!") and the University ("1914: Palmer Stadium erected. 1915: Palmer Stadium starts falling down.")

Naturally we paid homage to our honorable opponents from Hahvahd. ("After Princeton, Bill Bradley drove the lane and later became a senator...while at Harvard, Teddy Kennedy became a senator, but didn't drive in lane.")

The show concluded with the traditional Flasher Routine featuring the Band's senior class. As we scrambled off the field, a PUB alum serving as a University Trustee somehow managed to find herself One with a cream pie.

Following the game we celebrated Princeton's victory as only we can, with a triumphal P-Rade down Prospect Street, into the Woodrow Wilson School fountain.

Our fountain concert was as popular as our halftime show. Alumni and undergrads performed old favorites including Hawaii 5-0 and Rock Lobster to the enjoyment of spectators (and the surprise of the alumni children).

A 75th Birthday Banquet concluded the weekend with good food, good friends, and cheap wine. We screened a slideshow featuring the Band's past twenty-five years ("Did I ever look that young?"); later, speakers entertained us with stories from decades-gone-by, from the origin of the plaid to our first trip into Woody Woo fountain.

The Band's 75th Birthday ("Funny, you don't look a day over 73!") was a big success and loads of fun. (It's always funny until someone loses an eye...and then it's really funny.)