Tomorrow night at 7:30, the Performing Arts Center will host Georgia Southern University’s own Southern Pride Marching Band for the first time.

“This will be the first time Southern Pride has ever played at the PAC. A lot of schools do an indoor event for the marching band. I feel like it is something we need to be doing because it gives the public an opportunity to see the marching band up close and personal. They’ll experience the music in a way that they can’t at a football game,” Colin McKenzie, director of Southern Pride, said.

The band will be playing every piece of music that they have performed all season, including their entire pregame repertoire in this hour-long concert.

“We will be opening with the pregame routine. The stage will be clear, and the marching band is going to march through the PAC and onto the stage,” McKenzie said.

“We’re basically taking all the pieces we have worked on all year, and we are bringing it into one venue for the community to come out and see us. It is going to be really fun,” trombone section leader Miles Benton, said.

There will be a costume contest at the concert, and students are encouraged to come to the performance in full Halloween garb. A member of the marching band staff will judge the costumes, and a prize will be awarded for first place. No full-face masks are permitted.

“I’m very excited to be a part of such a new experience for the marching band. This is the first time Southern Pride has put on such an event, and I hope that this concert can give Statesboro some great exposure for the athletic bands,” Doug Atcheson, Southern Pride graduate assistant, said.

McKenzie will lead Southern Pride in music the band has performed all year but in a way that students may not be used to.

“The idea is not to change the Southern Pride experience but to change the way people hear the music. If you have ever seen a marching band inside, you know it is pretty powerful. It can overwhelm you a little bit. I think that’s pretty special,” McKenzie said.

Though most students have heard these songs at home football games throughout the year, hearing them performed in an enclosed space will provide a completely different aural experience.

“At a football game, depending on where you sit, you can’t really get the whole picture; this will change that. When the audience is this close to the band, I think students will have a great appreciation for the level of talent that exists in this group,” McKenzie said.

The concert is free to the public and is an opportunity to support one of GSU’s own student music ensembles.