For Megaband, the Northeastern Pep Band is Bigger Than Ever

In Matthews Arena and Cabot Center, the sights and sounds of hockey, basketball and volleyball games are soundtracked to a bevy of show tunes and pop music. The Northeastern University Pep Band brings their infectious energy to everything from The Weeknd's "Take My Breath" to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" and the theme song from "Pokemon."

Resplendent with woodwinds, full brass and a rhythm section including electric and bass guitar, the band also plays at important university events like commencement. Their sound fills entire stadiums, always keeping spirits high and entertaining the crowd. Megaband is their biggest event every year, calling for all current band members to attend and drawing back alumni to play too.

For these games, the band numbers over 100 students, as opposed to about 35 to 40 members for a regular game. “[Megaband] really showcases how big our band can be, how big our sound can be, how big our energy can be,” said Allison Betsold, director of the Pep Band.

Betsold, 32, has been assistant director of bands at Northeastern since 2016. She's in charge of scheduling and logistics for Pep Band events, and chooses the game for Megaband carefully. This year, it was Nov. 10, with Northeastern’s women's hockey team facing off against Providence College as the first game of Homecoming Weekend and Military Appreciation Night.

Betsold said her favorite part of Megaband is welcoming back alumni and seeing as much of the band as possible in the stands, adding, "It's so great to see all of them when they come back and join us, and they get to experience something that they love at Northeastern, as a Husky." Although only 108 students are enrolled in Pep Band for the Fall ‘23 semester, 120 band members came to play.

Hannah Szeto, 22, plays the mellophone and is an alumna who returned to Northeastern to participate in Megaband. Szeto said, “It's a really fun experience to be able to play all these fun songs I've memorized because we've played them so much." On average, band members play at eight events per semester across sports’ seasons.

With attendance approaching three times as many people as a regular game, coordinating all of the logistics for Megaband is a huge undertaking. In addition to Betsold, the ten members of Pep Band leadership and Northeastern’s chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi (the college band service fraternity) team up to pull it off. This year, they put together 20 new books of sheet music, handed out music stands and distributed Northeastern hockey jerseys with “Pep Band” emblazoned on the back.

During collegiate sports contests, band members cheer on the Huskies and pepper opposing teams with rapid-fire chants, like "Good dogs, bad dogs," (good dogs for the NU Huskies and bad dogs for the Boston University Terriers).

At last year’s Megaband, when 6’1” Abigail Levy played goalie for Boston College’s women’s hockey team, she received onslaughts of "Not good, just tall" from over 130 Pep Band members. Levy’s Northeastern counterpart, Gwyneth Philips, is six inches shorter at 5’7”.

A second-year student in attendance at the NU-BC women’s hockey game, Nurayn Guru, 19, said the pep band “just brings an energy that inspires other people to be that energetic about athletics at Northeastern.”

The band certainly provides a boost to the teams they play for, as evidenced by these social media shoutouts from the women's basketball team, men's hockey team, women's hockey team, women's volleyball team, and a mention by Northeastern’s President Aoun himself.

While Megaband isn't the only important event of the year for the Pep Band – which played Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" at Northeastern's 125th anniversary celebration on Krentzman Quad in October – it's definitely the most loved by game attendees.

“[The Pep Band has] such a presence," said Samantha Damonti, a second-year student at Northeastern who attended the game.

"It just wouldn't be a Northeastern hockey game without the band [and with Megaband] there's a lot more energy and I really enjoy it," Damonti, 19, said. She mentioned that she loves when the band moves their instruments in sync to their music and added that "Game of Thrones" is one of her favorite pieces that they play.

The band goes all out for celebrations, and on the night of Megaband, there was plenty of cause to celebrate. After each goal the women's hockey team scored, they played "All Hail Northeastern" and led the crowd in rousing renditions of "The Hey Song." When the clock ticked down to 00:00.00 and the final score was 6-1 in Northeastern's favor, all 120 band members erupted into raucous cheers before once again playing "All Hail Northeastern" then launching into "Hey! Baby," the band's signature victory song.

Band members stayed after the game ended to put away stands, hang up jerseys and pack their instruments back into their cases. After a night spent catching up with friends and joining in the ensemble, Szeto said, "I really miss playing in Pep Band."

So when's the next Megaband?

"We really only do it once a year because we take up a lot of space and we just can't make it work for every single game," said Betsold.

But along with the proud ranks of the Pep Band, she's excited about plans in the making to hold another Megaband in the Spring ‘24 semester.