Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Bengals
The National Football League welcomes a new drumline— the Cincinnati Bengals’ Growl. The ensemble will perform before and during home games at Paul Brown Stadium.
“We wanted to add the drumline to enhance the fan experience during pregame festivities,” says Brian Sells, director of corporate sales, marketing and broadcasting. “They engage fans that are tailgating by walking around the parking lots and playing.”
In addition the drumline performs a two-minute pregame field show and a 30-second routine during the third-quarter break. “We see their role evolving,” Sells says. “They’re charged with more casually walking over to the stands and firing up the crowd. They will play to prompt cheers during the game.”
The group includes 20 paid professional musicians, assembled and led by director Alex McIntosh, a 2012 alum from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Thus far, Growl has been a hit with the Bengals crowd, Sells says.
Growl joins a number of other NFL drumlines including the Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder, the San Francisco 49ers Niner Noise, the Pittsburgh Steelers Steeline as well as the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens marching bands.