Southern’s band director says Super Bowl performance is ‘a dream for the students’
NEW ORLEANS — When Joseph Rogers, a member of Southern University’s Human Jukebox marching band, revealed to his parents that the band will perform during the Super Bowl LIX pregame show on Sunday, they were stunned.
“When I told my parents what we were doing, they were shocked and couldn’t believe it,” said Rogers, who plays the French horn. “They were honored that their son had the opportunity to perform for the Super Bowl.”
Kedric Taylor, Southern’s director of bands, broke the news of the Human Jukebox’s pregame appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Tuesday.
The band will perform as an accompaniment to musician and composer Jon Batiste, who will sing the national anthem before the game.
“Exposure and experience create opportunities. I want to make sure my students are able to capitalize on these experiences because you’ll never know when they might come again,” Taylor told Andscape on Thursday.
“Not only has this opportunity been a dream for the students, it’s amazing for the program,” Taylor added. “We are continuing to be the brand out to the world, so more and more people can learn about the Human Jukebox.”
While performances of this magnitude normally take weeks to months to plan, the Human Jukebox marching band has practiced for its pregame show appearance for only a week, commuting almost daily from the Isaac Greggs Band Hall on Southern’s campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
“We call it PPP – proper planning prevents poor performance,” Taylor said. “While I oversee the band in its entirety, every member of our team plays a part in planning, which makes the logistics of our performances possible.”
“Often imitated, but never duplicated” is the credo Southern’s Human Jukebox lives by. When the band takes the field on Sunday, it will add to its nine Super Bowl performances, the most in HBCU band history.
“It’s important for people to see us because our style of dance is unique and unlike any other collegiate dance team. I’m excited for this never-before-seen routine everyone is going to see,” said Milan Davis, a member of Southern’s Fabulous Dancing Dolls, the dance team that performs with the band.
The announcement on The Jennifer Hudson Show was only one of several stops members of the Human Jukebox have made in the last week to showcase their talent before the big game.
They competed in the Honda Battle of the Bands last Saturday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, alongside other bands from other historically Black colleges and universities. Then on Thursday night, the band took the stage at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans during a live taping of the “Nightcap” podcast with former NFL players Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
This will be the first Super Bowl for all of the current members of the Human Jukebox; the last time Southern’s marching band performed at the game was in 2013.
Regardless, although his parents might be lost for words over his opportunity, Rogers said he is more than prepared for game day.
“I’m going to treat it like every other performance,” he said.