Marching with Macy's
Jen Gaffney is the trumpet leader for Baltimore's Marching Ravens, who became the only NFL band to ever play in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last Thursday. She took some time to chronicle the history-making trip for BR.com.
Things typically associated with Thanksgiving:
- Visiting with family
- Battling traffic
- Watching football
- Stuffing yourself until you concede defeat and wear sweatpants for the remainder of the weekend
- The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Of the above, my holiday included only the Macy's parade, but this once-in-a-lifetime experience makes up for missing out on the rest.
Thursday, Baltimore's Marching Ravens made history as the first NFL marching band to perform at the Macy's parade. In total, only 18 hours transpired between the time we reported to Camden Yards to board the buses and our return to Charm City.
We arrived at 11 p.m. Wednesday night, bearing uniform parts, food, and pillows. We dressed in the bottom halves of our uniforms then settled in for a long ride.
We rolled out of town shortly after midnight. This is the busiest travel night of the year, but at this hour the highways were eerily empty. I'm asleep by the time we reach Aberdeen, and woke up as we passed Newark Airport.
We stopped at the New Jersey-New York border for about 2 hours before we got the okay from Macy's officials to cross over. At 5 a.m. we got the call to get fully dressed and pass through the Lincoln Tunnel. On the night before the biggest performance of my life, I tallied about three hours of sleep.
This is the first trip to NYC for at least a few people on my bus. Our driver is surprised that no one breaks into "New York, New York," and I asked him not to encourage my busmates.
The sun began to creep up over the horizon at around 6:30, or the same time we piled off the busses and onto the sidewalks of 86th St., where we stood and waited for two hours. After this we moved to the Central Park West staging area, where the floats, balloons and bands lined up.
The Marching Ravens were the 11th band of 12, placed behind Mr. Potato Head, the New Menudo, Pokemon and the Planters Peanuts Nutmobile.
Most Macy's parades in recent memory have been either rainy, freeze-your-mouthpiece-to-your-lips cold, or both. I don't know how we managed to be so lucky to get this perfectly sunny 60-degree day.
The crowds were immense throughout the entire route, with onlookers crowding the streets at least ten deep, if not more. I'm not exaggerating when I say there was not a square foot of sidewalk real estate to be had for 2 ½ miles. We only heard a couple negative yells, such as "Here we go Steelers" and "Hey, I liked you guys better before, when you were… the uh… the Browns." (This heckler obviously did not plan his retort ahead of time). But they were clearly in the minority when compared to all the enthusiastic applause, whistles and "Go Ravens!" cheers we received.
We played Sleigh Ride, Deep Purple's "Hush" and the Baltimore Ravens Fight Song as we wound around Manhattan landmarks like Central Park, Times Square and Columbus Circle before arriving in front of Macy's at Herald Square. There was a mandatory period of silence as we approached the square so as not to interfere with other groups during their TV time.
At 11:33 a.m., we finally got our moment of glory – one song and one chance to show a national audience what we're made of. It felt so surreal to hear Matt Lauer introduce us as we marched across the familiar green Macy's logo. I didn't see it myself, but other band members later told me they could see Matt, Meredith Vieira and Al Roker grinning and rocking out in their broadcast booth as we performed Green Day's "Holiday."
The entire band worked so hard to earn this prestigious honor, and not even the extreme shooting pains in my right arm or lack of adequate sleep could calm the adrenaline propelling me through the 50-block parade. After we turned off the end of the parade route, one of our trombone players proposed to his girlfriend, who is also the flute section leader, capping off an emotional day that included relieved smiles shared between band members, many hugs and even a few misty eyes.
My cell phone exploded with voicemails and text messages from people who saw our performance within minutes of my stepping onto bus No. 5. The trumpet section ate like they hadn't seen food in days, feasting on sandwiches, fruit, Girl Scout cookies and pumpkin pie (because it was Thanksgiving, after all).
From here on out, every time I watch the Macy's parade I can look at the participants and know exactly how they feel. Exhausted yet energized, nervous but at the same time filled with pride because they made it to the Super Bowl of parades.
