Prudential Arena Awaits As Wayne Middle School Band Prepares For NJ Devils Pre-Game Show

WAYNE, NJ — Junior high band members at Wayne's George Washington Middle School are preparing for an exciting annual tradition — playing a pre-game concert before the New Jersey Devils take the ice.

Their performance is Tuesday, March 11 ahead of the Devils' 7 p.m. matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets, with the band set up in the concourse to entertain fans as they file in to the Prudential Center.

Mr. Nick Vigiletti is the director of music, and said that the Devils organization contacted him about a dozen years ago to tell him about the performance opportunity — which also serves as a group outing for band families.

"We've done it year after year now because it's something the students look forward to doing," Vigiletti said.

"I wasn't really a hockey fan before, but now I'm a huge Devils fan," he added.

The George Washington families can also in their own section in the top part of the arena, with a "party zone" where students can hang out and play video games, too (group ticket sales have passed for the match).

But first, they've still got to fine-tune the music. Getting ready for this performance takes some extra work and concentration, as seventh-grade musicians David Gilgur and Ally Nick-Nelson told Patch.

To start, these songs are different from what the bands normally perform.

"People don't really come to a Devils game and then see a band and expect, like, normal concert songs," noted Gilgur, a trombone player.

So, they've been working on five popular songs — including Neil Diamond's classic "Sweet Caroline," the Miley Cyrus hit "Party in the U.S.A.," and the energetic "Fireball," performed by Pitbull.

"It's nice to be able to learn different pieces," said Nick-Nelson, who plays baritone saxophone.

Gilgur noticed that the drum section in these pop songs had less variety, he said — with not as much space for marimbas, cowbells, and other instruments from their percussion session.

"For the most part, it's just bass drums and snare drums," he noted.

The students also got to vote on what songs they'd like to play, Vigiletti said — he's been introducing them week-by-week, so each new tune is a surprise.

"It gives us a chance to have a pop music unit in our class and to study that type of music," he said. "It's fun."

Plus, since the two grades practice separately for most of the week, they are holding extra practices to work on their combined sound — about 49 students altogether.

"For concerts, we'll do after-school rehearsals with us combined, but all the periods are different for seventh and eighth grade," explained Nick-Nelson.

And, to top it off, they've got to memorize all the music — as they're not bringing music stands into the Prudential Center.

"When I first started, we had all the chairs and we had to bring all of the stands, because we're not a high school, we're not a marching band, so we're not able to do that kind of performance," Vigiletti said. "So I did that for one or two years...it was a pain in the neck."

The preparation is going well, though, Vigiletti and his students told Patch on Jan. 22.

"I'm very happy, it's a good place to be," Vigiletti said. "Our goal is to have all five songs out by the end of January, so that we have all of February to keep working on details and memorization."

Nick-Nelson and Gilgur said they were not feeling very nervous about the performance — with more than a month and a half to go, and a good handle on the music already.

"We have pretty much everything down except for the final song and some of the accents, decrescendos, and some of the details," said Nick-Nelson.

Gilgur said he tends to get nervous close to a big performance — "But then we do great, we always have, and I'm like, 'oh, why was so stressed about it?'" he said.

"So far, everything has been good."