Fall in. Face forward. March in formation.
March Madness Marching Band quad drums player Chelsey Boston had heard those orders hundreds of time during her years in high school marching band and had even used them a bit herself after graduation as a percussion instructor at her alma mater.
Marching band movements are supposed to be uniform. Musicians on parade step in time. You know, what you expect from a marching band.
Well, a traditional marching band, maybe.
MMMB is a marching band like none other – a fact that Boston learned during the 2016 Lexington Christmas Parade when she and a group of friends in the local furry fandom community volunteered to mingle with the parade crowds as part of MMMB’s Spirit Corps.
“My first impression was this: I honestly didn’t know what to think,” she says. “This band was wacky and interesting. It was a far cry from the traditional ‘marching band’ nature that I was used to at the time. But it definitely seemed fun.”
So, she joined the band, first as a cymbal player before switching to bass drum the next year. Last year she moved to quads — four tenor drums held on a carrier by the shoulders. The latest move was encouraged by MMMB Minister of the Grooves Tripp Bratton, who gave Boston and MMMB snare player Ted Grossardt the go-ahead to fill in for him at a few performances in 2019.
“The first gig I was asked to assist with was the Pride Festival in downtown Lexington,” says Boston. With temps close to 100 degrees F and high humidity, the performance was one of the band’s most grueling all season. Boston says the experience, for her, was chaotic.
“It was a learning experience. It … definitely gave me a whole new level of respect for what Tripp does,” she says. “The gigs I have helped lead following Pride have definitely been much better.”
Life outside of MMMB is busy for Boston: She’s a graphic designer, the convention chairman for a Kentucky furry convention called The Menagerie, an actor in a Star Trek web-series, an amateur comedian, and an amateur magician with an abiding love for illusionists Penn & Teller. Being in the band allows her to combine at least a few of her talents into one wacky package who, on occasion, gets to dress in snazzy clothes and perform on drums.
With a marching band. Of sorts.