The Ohio State University Spring Athletic Band paid tribute to Van Halen with a medley of songs during halftime of the football team’s annual spring game this past weekend.
The band treated Buckeyes fans to a mashup of “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Dreams,” “Panama” and “Jump” while forming the Van Halen logo and spelling out the band’s name on the field, as well as the words “1984” and “JUMP.”
Making the feat that much more impressive is the fact that the tribute was performed by the OSU Athletic Band, which is different from the OSU Marching Band. The Athletic Band performs at various spring varsity events — excluding fall football games — and includes all brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. It is an open-enrollment ensemble, so anyone can participate.
The tribute follows a similar Rush homage performed by the Ohio State Marching Band last fall. The elaborate medley even impressed the Canadian prog masters themselves, with the band tweeting that it was left “speechless.”
In other Van Halen-related news, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted recently revealed that he was asked six months ago to join a potential Van Halen tribute tour. Newsted said he approached by Alex Van Halen and shredder Joe Satriani, but never followed through since he “didn’t want it to be viewed as a money grab.” Turns out that plans for the tour “fizzled” out anyway.
Watch the OSU Athletic Band perform some of Van Halen’s biggest hits below.