So you wanted to hear the Huskie Marching Band, but your busy schedule kept you from attending any football games?

Tonight is your last chance. The band will perform at 8 p.m. in the Music Building’s Boutell Memorial Concert Hall. Also performing will be the Silverettes and Color Guard.

Frank Bibb, director of the marching band, said the band will play the selections it played this fall during shows, away trips and football games. He said this will include songs from a wide variety of musical genres, including rock, swing, Spanish-style music, Americana and even Gershwin.

“During the season we try to play a variety of music for the crowds,” he said.

There are 230 performers in the marching band, Bibb said, and many are recruited from high schools. This concert will be recorded on either a CD or cassette, depending on the budget, he said, and the recording will be used in the recruiting of new band members.

“If we didn’t recruit from high schools, we wouldn’t have much of a band,” Bibb said.

The CD or cassette also will be sold at the University Bookstore and in the band office in the Music Building, he said. The proceeds will go to help fund the band next year, he added.

During the concert a random member of the audience will be chosen to conduct the band while the “Fight Song” is played, Bibb said. This gives one person the chance to fulfill the dream of conducting the band, something Bibb said many students would like to do.

He said getting to the concert early would be a good idea since a capacity crowd is expected. “I think it (our band) is the best-kept secret in the Midwest,” Bibb said, referring to the quality of the band’s performance and the lack of television coverage.

“It’s one of the few good things in life that’s still free,” Bibb added.

After the concert, the band is finished for the year except for basketball games and recruiting, Bibb said. Tonight’s concert amounts to a final pep rally for the 1993-94 Huskie Marching Band. Bibb said he hoped people would come out and see the final performance.

This, however, is not to imply that students will never again hear the loud brass instruments anywhere within sight of the stadium. Thanks to good recruiting efforts and the Huskie Marching Band’s reputation, the band plays on.