The Western Thunder Marching Band is a defining feature of the University of Wyoming gameday experience for Pokes fans. The marching band is known for its high-energy contributions to various events around UW and the Wyoming community. At its core, the band is a service organization, working to serve the UW community by providing music and entertainment with flair and Western pride. The band contains several different instrumentalists and performers who work together to create a vibrant display of classic Pokes pride.
The Color Guard, nestled among the many talented musicians, uses dancing and various equipment including flags, rifles, and sabers to bring the music to life. Its dedicated members devote a great deal of their time and energy to perfecting their craft and creating an entrancing visual experience alongside the band.
Their bodies are their instruments, and training is essential to consistently perform at the level in which they do. The guard meets in August for a guard-only camp before joining the marching band for a week of intense all-day training to kick off the season. Once classes are in session the guard attends daily rehearsals with the band. These rehearsals are supplemented by sectional rehearsals twice a week. During game weeks the guard performs alongside the band at various pep events. They also spend all day Saturday rehearsing and performing with the band. Halftime is the band’s time, and they learn a new show for every game of the season.
“I was a really shy kid, so I thought it would boost my self-confidence,” Mieke Erlandson, the captain of the Western Thunder Color Guard (WTCG), said. “And I think it definitely has. It kind of has no choice. When you’re spinning a flag you have to be confident in what you’re doing.”
“[Audience members] look at it and it’s just flags on a field. You’re just spinning a flag. But there’s so much more that goes into it,” Jeremy Buss, a third-year member of the color guard said. “The moment you mess up the whole stadium could notice because it’s like, ‘Oh those flags aren’t together, they suck!’”
It is much more than just flags on a field, however. The color guard is a tight-knit group of like-minded people who dedicate themselves to perfecting a performance that appears to last only ten minutes during a halftime show. But the performance goes far beyond what happens on the field at the War Memorial.
“I feel like I have a role for the University,” Buss said. “I’m recruiting more guard members to join the University, I’m saying ‘Hey, come be a part of this community!’”
Though the members dedicate their fleeting spare minutes to the activity and give up a typical college social life for the entirety of the fall semester, they all promise it’s worth it
“The people I’ve met through the program are the biggest reason that I keep coming back,” Erlandson said. “We spend so much time together during the semester so it’s really easy to form a bond with everyone who shares the same passion that I do.”
“At first it’s kind of like a relief because it’s done, but then you’re proud of the work you put in to learn and memorize these routines, and now you get to perform it in front of thousands of people at War Memorial,” former member and current color guard instructor for Western Thunder, Julaire Church said, highlighting the feeling she gets after performing.
As members of the only college marching band in the state, the WTCG inspires young spinners every year through their famous annual Wyoming State Marching Band Festival performance, the biggest recruiting event for the band. The members of the color guard have been given many opportunities to grow and blossom into collegiate-level performers idolized by budding performers throughout the state.
“It feels so amazing to be a part of something that I had always dreamed of doing,” Erlandson said. “Knowing that I’m inspiring those same dreams in others is an indescribable feeling.”
Color Guard provides its members with a multitude of opportunities to grow and learn life skills that can be carried far beyond the college years.
“It’s taught me how to work hard and to keep pushing through something,” Erlandson said. “Guard can be really difficult especially when something is outside of your comfort zone or skill level. It’s also really important to be flexible. The guard kind of gets thrown at last minute things, so being able to take the new information as it comes has been really beneficial in other parts of my life.”
The marching band season stretches from mid-August through late December, reaching beyond both the beginning and the end of the fall semester. The members of the band and the guard alike must learn how to manage their time and energy to perform at a high level both musically and academically.
“Because sectional rehearsals are so late in the day I try to get my assignments done before that,” Buss said. “It’s just a lot of time management. You know you have to get to call time early, and especially in the guard, our call time is always an hour before the band’s.”
The growth of a performer is often directly reflected in one’s growth as a person, a process deeply supported by the community of members who share the experience. Church stated that the most affirming experience as an instructor has been to observe and facilitate that development.
“Seeing the team’s growth, individually and as a whole is very fulfilling,” Church said. “There aren’t very many color guard instructors in Wyoming so a lot of high schools don’t have a whole lot of help. Seeing them learn throughout the season, that’s honestly the best part of it.”
The WTCG serves not only as a physical embodiment of the music of the marching band but also as a vessel for the unique passion shared by its members. It has given its members a community that can’t be replicated elsewhere while serving hard-earned life lessons and skills.
“I love guard because it’s an outlet of expression for me,” Erlandson said. “I love to put my heart out on the field with people who have the same feelings toward this sport. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
