BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State Broncos football team dresses in blue and orange 12 games a year, but every single home game, plus one away game, the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band also dresses ready to play.
"On a game week, it's probably about a 16-hour time commitment," said Blue Thunder Director, Joe Tornello. "We're in a stadium that holds almost 40,000 people and we have 200 people in the band, so we're trying to project a pretty big sound to a large space."
"It's just a wall of sound," Matt Clay on the drumline added. "I mean we talk about it all the time, you just wanna hit them in the chest."
According to Tornello, many of the band members are from out of state.
"A lot of students are not with their family so they find a family away from home kinda thing," he said. "It's that extended family that some of them come here and immediately gravitate towards and it sticks with them for a long time."
Like any family, the Blue Thunder has their fair share of quarrels, but can always work through their minuscule mishaps.
"We kinda all trust each other," he said. "Like, we know we're working on something together so no one person is necessarily right - we're working together on that. At the end of the day, we all know what we're here for."
Woodwind players Kalia Ho and Ashley Johnson said they love being in the band.
"We love being a spirit of the school," Johnson said. "One thing our band director, Joe Tornello, says to us is 'don't settle for anything less than your best.'"
Time management, dedication, work ethic, and not settling are just some of the life skills Tornello teaches his band.
"[It's] truly rewarding beyond just the notes that we're playing and being musical," he said.
Tornello has been directing the Blue Thunder for nine years and said he is "absolutely" proud of his students.
"I get pretty emotional especially at the end of the year when we look at what we've done and seeing the progress the students make over a four year time period," he said. "It's really rewarding to see the students as they progress and matriculate through the program."
Tornello's students take his lessons to heart.
"It's cool to be a part of that," Clay said. "Sitting in Boise, Idaho you wouldn't think 'here's where one of the best college bands in the nation is,' but it's kinda true."
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