UT’s Pride of the Southland Band to play in London Band Week
The University of Tennessee’s Pride of the Southland Band will break a world record as the largest band to ever perform in London.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Pride of the Southland Band is breaking a Guinness World Record at London Band Week. They will be the largest band ever to perform in the city.
The band left for airports in Knoxville, Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte on Monday. About 300 band members and staff took five different flights to make it to the U.K.
“Everyone’s just waiting to be there. It’s so exciting,” said Sydney Flenniken, Assistant Drum Major for the Pride.
London Band Week is an invitation-only event where bands from all over the world collaborate and perform.
“From what I’ve been told, there’s never been a band our size, a single band, that has performed in England,” said band director, Dr. Michael Stewart.
“We actually contacted Guinness World Records, and we’re setting a record, which is amazing. I’ve never been part of a world record, and that’s extremely exciting to know that my name’s going to be in a history book,” said Chandler DeArmond, Drum Major.
The Pride will be playing some new music in collaboration with bands overseas, but no U.T. performance could be complete without a Vol fan’s favorite song.
“It’ll be a good mix of a lot of different types of musical styles, but they’ll definitely get a lot of ‘Rocky Top.’ That won’t be a problem,” said Stewart.
The Pride will perform three times while in London. Those performances can be streamed online.
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