On Saturday, The Ohio State Buckeyes trounced the Maryland Terrapins 66-17. Despite the thrashing by the home team in Columbus, it was the Ohio State Buckeyes Marching band that would steal the show with an epic tribute to Rush during their halftime performance.
With a halftime score of 35-10, the Buckeyes Marching band took the field with an expanded drumline—an ode to the late Rush drummer, Neil Peart, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 67. The 14-minute performance included takes on Rush hits like “Tom Sawyer”, “2112”, “YYZ”, “Red Barchetta”, and “Fly By Night”.
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Of course, The Best Damn Band In The Land didn’t just treat the packed stadium and viewers at home to a musical experience, but a visual masterpiece as well. Throughout the performance, the musicians’ formation on the field depicted men playing guitar, spelled out “YYZ” and “2112”, and the traditional “Ohio” script spelling.
The performance didn’t go unnoticed, either. After the game, The Ohio State University Marching Band tweeted out a video of the performance, to which Rush responded, “We’re speechless.”
We’re speechless 👏👏👏 https://t.co/spurwU1sn2
— Rush (@rushtheband) October 9, 2021
Check out a video of the entire halftime performance below.
The Ohio State University Marching Band – “The Music of Rush” – 10/9/21