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After lunch, the Michigan Marching Band's percussion section warms up on the front steps of Revelli Hall. Over the years this warm-up has become a performance in its own right, now known as the "Step Show". Fans stand waiting for half an hour or more before the show, and by the time it starts, the front steps are surrounded by a large crowd.
The show begins with a series of exercise patterns, beginning slowly and accelerating until each pair of drumsticks is a white blur. Following this are marching cadences and occasional riffs from the day's pregame or halftime shows. The show ends with a percussion-only performance of the band's two traditional percussion features: Temptation and Hawaiian War Chant. It's here that the most spectacular visuals come into play, including fancy stickings, arm movements, stick tosses, and cymbal player acrobatics. These techniques have been passed down from class to class, bandmember to bandmember over decades. Although small parts change each year, the overall effect still thrills fans from Toronto, Ontario to Pasadena, California
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Drummers Eric Schrauben (foreground), Steven Aho, Frank Echeverria, and Ed Glazer perform in the Step Show with cymbal players Aaron Sinka, Matt Burrows, and Greg Quist.