Christy Welder (front right), a fourth-year in zoology, leads her row, T-Row, of trumpet players in a performance during the Ohio State-Oregon game Sept. 11. Credit: Courtesy of Ed and Karen Crockett
Whether it’s the marching band performing on the field or a DJ spinning discs at a bar, students can find music all over campus every football Saturday.
Ohio State students are exposed to a wide variety of music on game days, bringing them together with songs they know and a game they love. Mike Dow, a DJ for Midway’s block parties and a 2015 Ohio State graduate, said the music scene around campus on Saturdays has changed over the years, but that music always plays an integral part in enhancing the game day experience.
“It’s a lot more hip-hop now,” Dow said. “I think everyone in the party mode, you know, at any bar or club, is listening to a lot more hip-hop than they used to back then.”
Dow said music is important to sports and game days because the two elicit similar energy from people.
“Having that full sensory overload type thing, right?” Dow said. “People are trying to push everything to the max, you know. People are trying to party, so music is an important part of the party soundtrack.”
Although songs such as “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap are all songs Dow said he has either partied to as a student or played as a DJ, the game day musical experience also includes classics such as “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes and “Hang on Sloopy,” performed by the marching band.
Christy Welder, a fourth-year in zoology who plays trumpet in the Ohio State marching band, said she sees music on game days from a different perspective than many other students. While some are at parties listening to music accompanied by flashing lights and pounding bass, Welder said she’s in her band uniform, gearing up for the long day ahead.
“Our report time is six hours before kickoff, so for those noon games, we have to be here at six in the morning,” Welder said. “We will run through all of our music for the day, including pregame, halftime, anything we might play in Skull Session.”
However, the same hits students may listen to pregame also tend to play in the stadium and serves as a way for band members to get excited before their performance, Welder said.
“They’re playing music and all that stuff until we actually go out,” Welder said. “Leading up to that, it just kind of gets you pumped up and getting ready to perform in front of all those people.”
In addition to tradition, the music of Ohio State game days can go hand-in-hand with superstitions.
Sabrina Scheetz, a fourth-year in industrial engineering, said she wakes up every football Saturday to “Carmen Ohio,” which she sets as her alarm. Scheetz said she began this tradition with her roommate in 2019.
Scheetz said she forgot to set her alarm for the Ohio State football game against Oregon Sept. 11 and feels as though the loss is connected.
“The first game we had this week, it was at night, so I didn’t set it for that just because it was at night, and I didn’t need to wake up for the game,” Scheetz said. “But every time I’ve had to wake up for the game, it’s been ‘Carmen Ohio,’ and that was the first time since I started doing this that I didn’t.”
Scheetz said playing the right music is a way to energize and unify crowds and that without music, game days would not be the same.
“I think it definitely sets the tone,” Scheetz said. “I mean, without music, I feel like game days wouldn’t be as fun.”
