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Decked Out FAMU Band Touches Sky at Grammys

Photo credit: Monty Brinton/CBS Jamie Foxx, left, and Kanye West, right, were backed up by the FAMU Marching 100 at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. (This photo may be reproduced for use with this story but cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.)

By Yewande Addie
Black College Wire

Twenty members from Florida A&M's Marching 100 graced the stage with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx on the Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles, decked out in red, white and gold hats fully equipped with feathered plumes, and performing two hits from West's "Late Registration" album.

West and Foxx appeared in true marching band style, dressed as rival drum majors while the band members, with chins up and shoulders back, stood eagerly behind them. They played West's "Gold Digger" and "Touch the Sky."

Although High Hat, lead choreographer for Missy Elliot, choreographed all the dancing, most of it was changed in rehearsal and West let the band members decide what they wanted to do.

Photo credit: Phil Sears/Tallahassee Democrat FAMU Marching 100 band members and their friends jump into the air as their colleagues perform with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx on television. The crowd gathered at a Tallahassee apartment to watch.

In a room filled with celebrities, members of the 100 were among the stars that Feb. 8 night.

"I got a chance to meet Common, Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Ciara. This experience is definitely something that I will never forget," said Wubb Gray, one of the eight chosen for the percussion section.

With the pressure of representing FAMU and themselves, some were riddled with anxiety.

"It was kind of scary seeing everyone, but once I overcame all the butterflies, the energy from the crowd and just watching the facial expressions of the audience gave me the fuel to charge our performance," said Weldon Gray, an 18-year-old freshman criminal justice student from Kennedale, Texas.

Many FAMU students had positive responses to the Marching 100's Grammy debut.

R. J. Allen, a 19-year-old sophomore business administration student from Altamonte Springs, Fla., said he enjoyed the show.

"Although Kanye West was robbed of 'album of the year,' I thought they (the Marching 100) were excellent as usual and I was honored -- it was something that was well earned and well-deserved," said Allen.

Candice Montgomery, 19, freshman general studies major from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was elated.

"The fact that our band was at the Grammys shows that we're on a new level as a college, as an organization, as a band and in just about everything. We're known for our showmanship, and hopefully this will make it all the more real to others," Montgomery said.

James Scarborough, a 22-year-old senior and Atlanta native, was proud.

"They had an outstanding performance, and it was [a] great exhibit of a black college on a media outlet of that magnitude. They really represented our school very well -- they had flavor, style, they looked good, and the crowd seemed to be more responsive to the band than to Kanye West," said Scarborough, an English-education student.

Because West's performance was so close to the end of the show, some wondered whether it would live up to expectations.

"I had a feeling that because they saved them for the end, that they weren't going to be that good, but they were awesome. I just wish they would have said it was our band up there, but as long as we know, than that's all that matters," Montgomery said.

Yewande Addie, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan.

Posted Feb. 10, 2006