When the Lions basketball teams take the court at Gersten Pavilion, they’re supported by a very unique “6th Man” — one made up of a brass and woodwinds section, singers, guitarists, bassists, percussionists and a DJ.
That “6th Man” is the LMU Pep Band — a student-run, all volunteer musical tour de force that also counts as its members faculty, staff and alumni of LMU among its regular members. A unique collection of musicians from all backgrounds, the Pep Band fuses classic fight songs with modern popular music.
“It’s a synthesis where a vocal-driven Earth Wind and Fire meets the Eye of the Tiger,” says Bradley Smith, who is in his third year as staff advisor to the Pep Band.
Having made its first appearance at an LMU athletic event during the 2001-02 season, the Pep Band performs at men’s and women’s basketball games, pep rallies, special events and various other athletic events. Smith, who plays guitar and sings, says the band brings to those games “attitude, musical confidence, nimble responsiveness and perhaps, most important, a genuine and contagious engagement with the Lion Spirit.”
As one of the few bands brave enough to do a live National Anthem, Smith says the performance features an original arrangement that propels the Star Spangled Banner from an intimate A Capella vocal entrance to a thunderous full-band finale. The band also performs an exciting pre-game mash-up, modern hit songs during halftime, and sizzling timeout selections throughout games.
“I came to do a game, and a concert broke out,” Smith says an NCAA official told him last season during a match up against BYU.
Smith says collaborations are in place with the Recording Arts Department and faculty within the music department, and adds, “It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see an album-length CD in the not too distant future, as well as an increase in our community service performances outside of campus.”
BELOW: Watch President David Burcham’s special performance with the LMU Pep Band during halftime of the the Lions’ game versus Pepperdine back in February 2014.