“It’s a much more traditional look, especially for the drum majors,” Western Thunder Drum Major Michael Jaycox said. Lynn Hartly, also a drum major for Western Thunder, said the new uniforms are a white jacket with brown pants and a gold sash running across the chest. Hartly said the old uniforms were the opposite, with a brown jacket and cream pants. “It looks really sharp,” he said.
Hartly also said the drum major uniforms changed dramatically as well. He said the old uniforms were all black suits with black cowboy hats, whereas this year the uniforms are white with cowboy hats and a gold half cape. Hartly and Jaycox agreed the new look is sharp, and better represent the university.
Jaycox said the gold on the old uniforms was more of an actual gold and not a game day gold. He said game day gold is more yellow, and the new uniforms display this color. “This represents the university in a much better way,” he said.
Jaycox and Hartly said new uniforms were purchased because of a donation from the McMurry family in Casper. Jaycox said the band wanted to show their appreciation by having members spell out McMurry on Jonah field during rehearsal. Hartly said a photo was taken of the formation and it will be framed and sent to the family.
“It’s the least we could do to show them how much we truly appreciate what they have done for us,” Hartly said.
Jaycox and Hartly agreed Saturday’s half-time show couldn’t have gone any better. Hartly said the theme for the show was rock, but Hartly said the show was unconventional.
“The songs we chose didn’t really fall into the same genre that you would usually pick for a rock show,” Hartly said. The marching band opened the show with “Sellout” by Reel Big Fish, then played “Hey Jude” by the Beatles and closed with “Call me” by Blondie. “Over all, it went really well,” Jaycox said.
“The new uniforms, new instruments and all the donations that the band has received in the past year really helped boost our confidence level,” Hartly said.
Jaycox said Western Thunder’s next show, scheduled for Sept. 10, will be a patriotic show, dedicated to our troops and veterans. Jaycox said they will open the show with America the Beautiful, then play a patriotic medley featuring songs which represents the four branches of the military and will close with God Bless America.