Purdue will be without a key part of its football tradition Saturday when they head to South Bend to take on Notre Dame.
Purdue’s All-American Band boasts what it calls the “World’s Largest Drum,” which is said to be roughly ten feet tall on its carriage. The problem, according to Purdue band and orchestra spokesman Aaron Yoder, is that Notre Dame won’t let anyone but its own team and band use the main tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium — the only tunnel the drum would fit through.
“According to a communication from the University of Notre Dame, our Band will not be permitted to take the World’s Largest Drum through their tunnel and onto the football field for this Saturday’s game,” Yoder said, via Dave Wilson of ESPN. “Notre Dame Athletics has restricted use of their main tunnel to their own football team and band, which is the only entrance large enough for the Drum. We have been told that visiting teams and bands have to use a separate tunnel that is much smaller. Our Drum is about 10 feet tall on its carriage and 565 pounds so it doesn’t even come close to fitting in this other tunnel.”
The Purdue bands and orchestras Twitter account made clear earlier Thursday that it blamed Notre Dame for the decision, and called the school out about it.
Happy Anniversary to the World’s Largest Drum! Too bad @NDFootball won’t let it on the field this weekend… #boilerup #hammerdown #letsplayfootball #purdue #collegemarching #notredame https://t.co/sUiBmDb5bx
— Purdue Bands & Orchestras (@PurdueBands) September 16, 2021
The decision means Purdue’s band will play a halftime show without the drum for the first time since 1979. The reason then was that the drum went missing from storage the night before a game, and was not found in time to be used.
Clearly, this will raise the stakes a bit for Purdue in this rivalry game. It’s also kind of amusing — who knew that drums would prove to be such a recurring theme early in college football season?
