The Goin' Band from Raiderland, originally known as The Matador Band, is nearly as old as Texas Tech itself. Under its first director, W. Waghorne, it performed at the opening football game in October 1925, fielding between 21 and 25 members. The Goin’ Band is currently under the direction of Dr. Joel Pagán, Dr. Eric Allen and Director of Bands, Dr. Sarah McKoin. The Goin’ Band is now comprised of approximately 400 members.
In keeping with the Texas Tech University campus’ Spanish Renaissance architecture, the uniforms of the Goin’ Band are styled after the trajes of matadors, complete with cape and a flat-brimmed “gaucho” hat. The traditional style of these uniforms has been in place for nearly twenty years.
The Goin' Band's repertoire of performance music ranges from traditional marches to music of Latin influence, as well as current popular music. The Goin’ Band makes use of both traditional-style marching (formations moving goal-line to goal-line) and corps-style (formations while playing to the sidelines) in its performances.
Featured on this year’s ornament are William Pyle and Jessica Calvit, the 2018-2019 Goin’ Band drum majors.
