Texas Tech University’s Goin’ Band from Raiderland launched its centennial celebration with Alumni Band Day at the Red Raiders’ season opener.
The weekend was filled with events for returning members, but a highly anticipated halftime performance — uniting the current band with more than a thousand alumni musicians — was ultimately washed out by rain.
The band held a fan performance on the grassy knoll outside of Tech’s School of Music a few hours before kickoff for the Red Raiders’ season opener.
I stood among the audience, watching alumni and current members joyfully play together, ignoring the sprinkling drops of rain.
Then the sky cleared up for a bit, and it seemed for a moment there wouldn’t be any interruption.
But by halftime, more storm clouds and rain had rolled in, and field conditions forced organizers to cancel the halftime performance.
Texas Tech's director of athletic bands, Dr. Joel Pagan, explained weather concerns had been on the radar for days and that he was part of multiple consultations with football operations and the National Weather Service.
“Once we knew that things were looking just a little, you know, little too scary to go out there … we ultimately decided the only option was to do something postgame," Pagan recalled. "Unfortunately, by that point, the weather delay had become pretty long, to the point where some of the alumni, I mean, they just couldn’t hang around much longer.”
But still, despite the rain, he noted he took a lot of pride in watching alumni interact and rehearse with current members, knowing the hurdles some alumni overcame to relive their favorite traditions.
To Pagan, what made this year special was the number of people who came back to perform.
“We had people traveling all the way from New Jersey by car to be here this weekend," he said. "It’s just really cool to see them come back and it’s like they never left.”
Returning alumni still enjoyed a full weekend that included a silent auction, multiple social gatherings and a Sunday banquet. The responsibility for organizing it all fell on the Goin’ Band Alumni Association’s Centennial Coordinator, Kelly Gordon.
I spoke with Gordon last week, before Alumni Band Weekend. Gordon was given her position in early 2023 and has since been organizing celebrations of the band’s 100th year.
She said one of the most rewarding parts of the job has been seeing how the band’s traditions create connections across generations.
“I think that’s something that makes this particular group — the largest and the oldest spirit organization on campus — something that’s really special," Gordon said.
I spoke with her again on Monday, this time to recap the weekend.
“We have received feedback from really, and I’m going to say, 99% of our alums said, you know, who cares about halftime? The best part of this was getting to see and be with one another, to be with people we haven’t seen in so long," Gordon said. "And you know, that was our ultimate goal.”
She told me she was running on about 12 hours of sleep since Friday, when most of the alumni arrived in town. Even with the change of plans and the stress of the weekend, she said everything aside from the halftime show couldn’t have gone better.
“I mean, seeing happy faces, hearing people scream when they figured out that somebody — and like they didn’t know exactly who was going to be there — and so then they see them, and then just the excitement, the sheer joy on people’s faces and in their voices, had me nearly in tears," she added. "I was just thrilled to see so many happy reunions.”
Gordon met her husband during their time together in the Goin’ Band, and their daughter eventually joined as well.
Saturday’s rehearsal was the first time they got to be on the field together.
Gordon was positioned on the tower, tasked with making sure things looked like they should.
“Dr. Pagan and his crew were worried about, what does it sound like, and do we have people in the right spot?," Gordon said. "Mine was, you know, does it look like it spells out 100 and do we have everybody where they need to be.”
From her view, she could see her husband — a former drum major — directing the side of the band that included their daughter just a few yards away.
“To get to look at him, and get to look at her, and to see the whole group and how it came together, was just overwhelming," Gordon said.
Gordon explained the alumni association is still working to confirm other celebrations moving forward this year, with hopes of doing a social event during the basketball season.
The next board meeting is in October, and she expects an announcement shortly thereafter.
She also added that because the rain stopped this year’s halftime show, there might be another attempt in the works.
“We’ve already kind of received some tentative approval that next year, in 2026, we may be spelling out 101 since we didn’t get to have our 100 this year," Gordon said.
“And so honestly, even though I’m so tired and have absolutely no voice — I mean, my voice is just dead — I’m ready to do it all again.”
The following is a recorded conversation with KTTZ's lead technician and radio operations Jaxon Stallings, who was a member of the Goin' Band from 2018 to 2021 and participated in Alumni Band Day.