The members of the Husky Marching Band experienced the Olympic Games firsthand this summer, eating chicken brain and playing the Olympic anthem during the games in Beijing.

The 62 band members who elected to go were part of a consortium that included college and high-school musicians from West Coast, Japanese, Australian, Romanian and Chinese institutions. The UW band director, Brad McDavid, led the international outfit.

“I would tell people that I am going to the Olympics,” said junior Ethan McBride, who plays trumpet, “And they would ask what sport I played. I said I was in the Husky Marching Band.”

In 2001, the marching band played for a crowd of thousands at Beijing University. In attendance were members of China’s People’s Liberation Army Band who were particularly impressed by the performance. They witnessed McDavid coordinate a large group of students and invited him to lead the band for the 2008 Olympics.

The Husky Marching Band had been preparing to go to Beijing since spring. McDavid spent about three months on one routine alone, some of the musicians said. He had planned to have the band’s performance culminate in the formation of the Olympic Rings by the band members. However, two days prior to his arrival in Beijing, the Chinese government informed McDavid that the performance was a no-go.

“They told us that there could be no group larger than 500 people. This was the first time that we witnessed the control of the Chinese government,” McDavid said. “The students, as was I, were pretty disappointed.”

The 2008 Olympics followed uprisings against Chinese

rule in Tibet, and the Chinese government made it clear that musicians were not to wear Tibetan paraphernalia on their uniforms.

“We made sure that we were there to celebrate this time for China,” McDavid said.

Junior Andrew Manseth, a clarinetist in the marching band, said everything had to be pre-approved by the Chinese government before it could be performed. The band members were not allowed to play “Louie Louie,” a staple of their performances in the United States, at a small show at their hotel because it had not been approved.

However, Husky sousaphone player Brian Mosier ran up to the top of a tower at the Great Wall and began playing the UW anthem for tourists and local Chinese walking along the ancient landmark.

It was originally thought that the band might play in the opening ceremonies in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, but the band instead played at the Great Wall of China, the soccer stadium in Tianjin and in Tiananmen Square. The performance in Tiananmen was the first time an international orchestra had played there; usually only large military processions march through the square. The only audience present was Seattle’s King 5 television news and other media outlets. There were no Chinese or foreign onlookers.

“It was amazing to perform in Tiananmen Square,” said senior trumpet-player Tony Andrus. “But the only people there were media, and the police had it barricaded.”

Andrus spent half a year in China prior to the Olympics studying at the Beijing Institute of Education, and also speaks Mandarin. He was in China during the uprising in Tibet and the earthquake in Sichuan province.

“The earthquake had a huge effect on all of China,” Andrus said. “They had to rebuild everything in Sichuan and it required China to come together as a country.”

Andrus said the rebuilding effort spurred the Olympic fervor, and that the country began to own the games, feeling that these were China’s Olympics and would be the best.

“The Chinese were so proud and excited,” McBride said. “[A passage] of the Chinese Olympic song went something like ‘we will win many medals on our soils.’”

Senior Annika Donnen, who plays the snare drum in the marching band, said, “I saw, in the countryside, red banners that said: “I will sacrifice for the Olympics. There was another that said: Olympic safety is everyone’s responsibility.”

Andrus said that the official slogan put forth by the Chinese government stated, “Beijing 2008: In order to have the world accept China.”

Tiananmen Square was barricaded because the Chinese government wanted a perfectly constructed image, Andrus said. China did not want to take risks with its Olympics.

It was flattering that the Husky Marching Band was chosen to be a part of the Olympic image, he said.

“They wanted as many things Olympic as possible,” Andrus said. “There was a ton of grandeur and they wanted us to be a part of the best Olympics. It was an honor and a compliment.”

The marching band’s Chinese hosts were very hospitable, McDavid said. The band was accommodated in the Grand Epoch City, which also housed President Bush during his visit to Beijing. Guides were provided to show the city’s landmarks.

However, not everything was comfortable. The temperature was usually about 90 degrees and during the Tiananmen Square performance many band members suffered from heat exhaustion. One tuba player fell over and bent his instrument in half, Manseth said. McDavid conducted all rehearsals outdoors—the only area at Epoch large enough to hold the more than 1,700 musicians—during early morning and cut them short around midday.

“It was sticky and gross,” Donnen said. “You would take a shower and 10 minutes later you would be sticky again.”

The full uniforms that the band wore at performances did little to alleviate these extreme conditions. Apart from slacks and polos, band members wore maroon berets, gold capes and bolo ties.

“Our polos were short-sleeved, but still it was really hot,” McBride said.

Donnen also said that the pollution in Beijing was severe. A taxi driver recalled that there used to be blue sky overhead when he was a child. The constant smog had abated slightly though, due to a government mandate that required motorists to only drive every other day.

After rehearsals and performances, the marching band members were given free-reign to explore Beijing, and later Shanghai.

“I just wandered around,” Manseth said. “I would find sketchy places where things were much cheaper. One restaurant had curdled duck blood soup.”

Manseth added that another dish at the restaurant featured unidentifiable meat. However, upon finding a chicken comb attached to the top of a skull, it was clear that this local delicacy was chicken brain.

“Just yesterday was the first time I had Chinese food since being back,” McDavid said. “We quickly learned the word for McDonalds in Beijing.”

The musicians and McDavid said it was good to be back in Seattle, but also that the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It is really nice to be home,” Andrus said. “I missed clean air, cheese and my friends, but I will definitely be going back to China in the future.”

Andrus said everybody had difficulty adjusting to life in Beijing and that, as foreigners, they went with certain expectations. Things don’t work like they do in America, he said. The weather and language were particularly hard to adapt to.

“Our Chinese hosts spoke little English,” McDavid said. “But music is the international language. Music was the ties that bind in this situation.”

Reach reporter Nikolaj Lasbo at features@dailyuw.com.