A historic Louisiana high school marching band performed on opening night for the Super Bowl, but this wasn't their first time on a big stage.
St. Augustine is a predominantly-Black, all-boys Catholic high school in New Orleans. Their band, known as “The Marching 100,” is recognized globally for their rich music history, producing musical talents like Jon Batiste, PJ Morton, Luke James and Jay Electronica.
That history led to the NFL requesting they perform on one of their biggest nights for the weeklong Super Bowl celebration — Super Bowl 59 Opening Night — where the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles players spoke to the media in front of an audience in the Caesars Superdome for the first time leading up to the big game.
Ray Johnson Sr., the band’s director, graduated from St. Augustine High School in 1981. He began his teaching career at the school in 1987. He’s even taught some of his current students' parents.
“We got a lot of community involvement,” Johnson said. “We actually wouldn't be [the] St. Augustine, we are without our community.”
However, Johnson said big performances for The Marching 100 are not new to them. Last Summer, for instance, the band went to France to perform for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. This also isn't the school’s first time being involved with a Super Bowl, either. Their records show St. Augustine performed in events related to Super Bowl 24 in 1990
But each time, Johnson said, it's an honor to be chosen.
“That speaks for our program, that speaks for our school, that speaks for the type of students that we have,” he said.
Some of the kids in the band come into high school with little to no experience playing their instrument. When they graduate from the program, they leave well trained and highly recruited by the best college programs in the country because of the school’s reputation.
“I was with the band that went to France in the summer, and I would have never thought that I would have done something like that,” Donovan Thompson said.
Thompson, a senior at St. Augustine, will attend Southern University in Baton Rouge in the Fall, where he’ll play trumpet for the “Human Jukebox”.
He began playing music in the eighth grade in a band program called Band of Excellence on New Orleans’ West Bank. His cousin then encouraged him to attend St. Aug. He said playing in The Marching 100 gave him exposure to the world he wouldn't have gotten if he went to another high school.
“I wanted to do new things. I played football at first, but I wanted to try something different,” he said.
'It's quite an honor'
The Marching 100 began their night by bringing the Eagles onto the field of the Superdome ahead of their interviews, then did the same for the Chiefs.
Eleventh grader Zaire Haney led the band through their sets as its drum major, which is rare for the Marching 100. In the school’s 70 year history, less than 15 students have been drum majors as juniors.
Haney said he will never forget the feeling of performing in the Superdome.
“My parents were ecstatic. They were really excited,” Haney said.”They know I don't get to do a lot, but since I became drum major, I've experienced so many different things, and being able to perform for the opening night really opened their eyes, and they were so proud of me.”
St. Augustine was booked for Opening Night and The Super Bowl Host Committee Parade, but Haney says the band members are keeping their hopes up for another possible performance on Sunday night. Grammy Award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar is headlining the Super Bowl’s halftime show. Songs he’s released over the past year have already been covered by marching bands at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“Anything is possible, but hopefully, yeah, if we were looking to perform with Kendrick Lamar, that would be amazing,” he said.
Whether or not the band gets to perform with Lamar, Johnson is happy for his students and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I'm very proud of these guys. It's quite an honor to be at the Super Bowl in our hometown, representing our city, representing our community,” Johnson said.
He said he looks forward to seeing the kids go out and change the world through music. He also said their Super Bowl performance was a precursor for the next big thing on their list: Mardi Gras.
“We're in high demand, and this is our season — Mardi Gras season. This is a special time,” Johnson said.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
